The ~SIVA Crisis

The Last City

Earth

There’s something strange and disarming about waking up in the middle of the night because of a recurring nightmare. It was the same one I had had a few days ago, back in the Giant’s Husk. It made the most grotesque dreams of other Guardians look antiseptic, staged. Like, the dreams they experience were nothing more than an occurrence rather than a haunting cause.

Not that their dreams didn’t mutilate them, oh no; but because it seemed as though my past was crawling up to me even in my sleep. Though I didn’t doubt for a second that other fellow Guardians were in the same boat as me; many of them were, and I’d be blind to believe that. But sometimes blindness masks the truth for us in life when we refuse to believe something out of the ordinary, or because we simply reject the connotation of it holding true.

Perfection is the greatest blindness anyone can believe.

But in any case, I woke up covered with sweat, not sure where I was, and absolutely certain I wasn’t going to fall asleep again anytime soon. Paledon was out like a light, though. He could sleep through an earthquake; wish I had that ability.

I sat up in my bed and peeled away the twisted sheets. Untwisted them. The bedside clock said it was 5:14. Four hours since I had gone to bed, and I felt like I’d been slogging through the Jungles of Venus the entire time with a piano on my back. I was sweaty, stiff, and stupid, unable to form any thoughts at all beyond the wisps my dream.

I sighed in discontent as I quietly plopped myself back on the bed, knowing that sleep was gone for the night. I did think of something despite my nebulous mind. I opened the drawer to my bedside table, and retrieved a glass vial with a red liquid inside: The Blood of Orion. Sounds uncanny, right? It really wasn’t.

While we were trying to unearth the mysteries of the Memory Shard, he had unknowingly cut himself on a a thorn bush in the Jungle. His hand was bleeding, and he thought his blood would be a good way of preserving his memory. As in, if I ever unraveled the secrets of the shard, I could use his blood to…

Well you get the idea…or so I hope.

The moonlight shafting through the window glistened the blood. It was a beautiful artefact, a memory of someone I had lost. My hands were clammy and trembling. I wiped them on the sheet, but that didn’t help. The sheets were just as wet. I put the vial on my bedside, then stumbled into the bathroom to wash my hands. I held them under the running water. The tap let out a stream that was warm, room temperature, and for a moment I was washing my hands in blood and the water turned red; and just for a second, in the half-light of the bathroom, the sink ran bloodred.

I closed my eyes.

The world shifted.

No. I didn’t pour his memory down the drain like that. I wasn’t in eyeless rage mode. I had meant to get rid of this trick of light and my half-sleeping brain. Close the eyes, open them, the illusion would be over and it would be simple clean water in my sink. Instead, it was like closing my eyes had opened a second set of eyes into another world.

I was back in my dream, floating like a cloud over the memory shard, Orion, his face blurred, standing by it and—

I opened my eyes again. The water was just water.

But what was I?

I shook my head violently. Steady, old boy; no Hunter off the deep end, please. I took a long breath and peeked at myself in the mirror. I appeared the way I was supposed to look. Carefully composed features, calm and mocking green eyes, an imperfect imitation of human life. Except my hair stuck up like reeds.

I carefully closed my eyes again.

Darkness all around me.

Plain, simple darkness. No flying, no blood, no city lights, just good old Hunter trying to keep his past in check.

I opened them again. It was me again. But where in the Traveler had I been?

That, of course, was the question. I had spent most of my life untroubled by dreams up until now; I couldn’t pinpoint why I had been experiencing nightmares, now of all times, and for that matter hallucinations. I never had visions of the apocalypse, the Darkness wiping out the Light for good; no troubling dreams of my past burbling up from my subconscious, no mysterious recurring images drifting through the history of my unconsciousness. Nothing ever goes bump in Hunter’s night. When I go to sleep, all of me sleeps.

So why now, of all the moments in my life?

I splashed water on my gave and pushed my hair down. That didn’t answer my question, but it did make me feel a little better. How bad could things be if my hair was neat? I just would mean Paledon would fine me even more attractive; when my hair was messy, it was messy. Bird nest level.

In truth, I didn’t know things could be plenty bad. I might be losing all, or many, of my marbles. What if I had been slipping into insanity piece at a time ever since Orion’s death? Had I been blind this entire time by SIVA that I lost all focus on what’s really important in all this?

The blood in the sink looked and felt so real; but they couldn’t be; I had been right here in my bathroom, yet I had almost been able to smell of blood.

Had I been experiencing psychosis?

I shook my head again and decided not to think anymore, but rather find comfort in my bed.

But before I had the chance to flick the bathroom light off, Paledon was standing in the door way, a look of concern plastered on his face. A part of me wished I had been more silent so I could take a trip to see the spectacle that was the Last City when most were in an undisturbed slumber; but Paledon would not have it.

I didn’t say anything, I walked past him, and sat on my bed. He flicked the light off me for, then sat next to me. For a moment, his eyes trailed from the nightstand—his stare predominately fixated on the vial of blood, then back to me. He already knew what it was, what it symbolized. He hugged me without a word.

A part of me wanted to weep, but I held my composure. Then, miraculously, the mind had me wonder why I was grieving over something that had happened close to a yea ago—why was I so attached to this, why hadn’t I moved on like I said I had a few weeks ago? How had I not come to terms with this yet? Was it because I was an imperfect being, bearing the burdens of my past; or was it because my past had uncaringly crawled its way to me?

The hallucination from earlier was a message from my psychosis—a sign that I was beginning to lose grip of reality: The blood I saw flowing from the sink was Orion’s blood spilt on my behalf. I already knew Orion’s death was my fault! So why do I keep mentioning it and doing this to myself?

Why?!

Deep breaths, Hunter. Relax.

I inhaled a deep inspiration of air, then endured expiration. My nerves slackened.

I slowly slipped out of my psychotic state.

I drew back from the hug before I laid down, doing my best to fall back asleep.

Paledon motioned his way to me, planting kissing on my neck, but I shunned him away. I couldn’t do anything right now beside stare dumbfoundly at the vial of blood. He didn’t say anything. I peeked over and saw him face the other direction, his back facing mine, and before I knew it, the sound of light snoring sounded.

The Ishtar Academy

Ishtar Sink, Venus

The Ishtar Academy was a place Warlocks could nerd out; the academy was part of an old academic campus that once operated in the area. Now it was filled with year of entropy and discord. Vines overtook many shelves that lined the walls. A tall statue of an angel stood proudly at the entranceway, gracing its beautiful glory on knowledge to those who passed through here.

Boy this place was for nerds; but Orion and I needed it. There was no doubt about that.

We decided—after our long night of drinks and waking up to a nasty hangover which was easily curable nowadays—to see if we can scrounge up any reference of text in the academy. We thought there would be some book, manuscript, or article about the memory hard (for all we know, it might not even be called that, but that’s what we’re calling it).

Currently, Orion was on one side of the academy, and I was on the other; we glanced at each other frequently, shaking our heads in disbelief as we kept coming up dry. There was a collection of books on the ground in front of me.

The question of why we weren’t using out Ghost to aid us might arise. But to be honest, the answer was quite simple: Orion and I did our adventures together, without the aid of any outer source, including our Ghost. It made them more fun and challenging. That’s one of the many reasons we did so many things together was because we worked well and Orion challenged me in way I never thought imaginable.

As I glossed over a book in my hand, titled The Secrets of the Vex, part of me squirmed when I read an entry:

Entry 76:

Deep in the Jungles of Venus lies an ancient site, a treasure of the Vex. No one has ever been able to step foot near the site because it is heavily guarded and juxtaposed by devastating Hobgoblins of unbelievable strength. They will wipe out anyone or anything that comes a mile within its sacred ground. They are restless, and it would be malapropos for anyone to even attempt raiding whatever dwells there. Researchers here at the Ishtar Academy believe there is a powerful artefact the Vex are using to initiate a secret operation, not known yet.

I recommend we investigate from a distance and try to understand what they are hiding.

“Orion, come take a look at this,” I said, and then moving over to a desk. “I think I found something.”

Orion double jumped his way to me, then took the book from my hand. “Hmm. Could this be?”

“Maybe. It’s the only thing we’ve come across that’s been documented about the temple.”

“I’m surprised the Cryptarchs haven’t found this journal yet,” Orion said. “But this doesn’t really help us. We need to find out what the shard does and how to eradicate the barrier.” Orion flipped through a couple pages, then trailed a finger along a page he stopped at. “Hmm…here’s something. It says here, the barrier draws energy from Venus’s core. We can shut down the surge of energy powering the barrier by creating two relics, charging them, then placing them in a matrix to terminate the energy connection.”

“Could you have been anymore long-winded?” I asked, still looking at Orion and laughing.

“Hey, I ain’t the one that wrote this, okay.”

I nudged him playfully. “Relax. I’m just messing with ya. So where exactly do we find these relics?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. That’s what we should look into, actually. Maybe the sight of interest has a clue we can use.”

“Let’s go.”

We found our way to the viny temple, but Orion had decided to take a detour, making the journey longer than necessary. Neither of us said a word along the way, though I couldn’t determine why. Usually when Orion and I endeavoured on our little adventures, he’d always be joyous, amicable, and chatty; now, not so much. It was like he was orchestrating this devious plan for some personal gain. Something about him now seemed dark and unyielding.

What? Hunter, that’s crazy talk!

I shook my head. Cleared the thoughts away. But, alas! It did no good. They came back again and again. Should I pop the question? Or would I be better off not asking?

“Orion,” I said, and stopped in my tracks. “Why do you seem so…off today?”

He halted, turned around, and said, “What do you mean?”

“I dunno, you seem different. Like this adventure of ours is to get revenge on someone.”

“What reasons do you have to believe that?”

“Orion, c’mon. I know you better than you know yourself sometimes,” I said. “Your demeanour is darker and you’re much more passive. We haven’t said a word to one another since we left academy. Excluding now.”

“What do you want me to say, Hunter? Want me to gloat about how perfect you are?”

“What? I don’t understand.”

“Let’s just get a move on. The more time we spend talking, the less time we have to crack open this case.”

I took a seat on some rotten log. “That’s excatly my point. Why are you in such a rush to figure this thing out? I thought we take our time to enjoy the moment we have with one another. Why rush it?”

He blew out a hard breath. “What different does it make?”

“There’s something underlying that you’re not telling me. It’s my Hunter’s hunch. You’re just not telling me what it is.”

“I will. But in time.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

We reached the threshold of the temple. Everything was intact and in place, just as the last time we had stepped foot here. I guess Orion really wasn’t bullshitting when he said only we knew of this place.

We scoured the area, looking for any clues that could get us one step closer to dissevering the energy barrier’s connection. Again, we were silent and taciturn toward one another, until I came across something uncanny. There was a dead glass orb amidst weeds. I reached over to pick it up. It almost resembled a glass eye. “Orion, I found something.”

He motioned his way to me. “What is it?”

“This.” I exposed the strange object I had discovered, both my hands holding the relatively large orb. “Could this be what we need to disable to barrier?”

“It could be,” Orion said as he took it from my grasp. “I found something here too.”

“What?”

“There’s a holder connected to a power stem that connects directly to the barrier. If this thing fits, then it’ the key to shutting it down.” Orion placed the glassy orb in the metal holder.

It was a perfect fit.

“Well, well, well,” Orion said between peals of laughter. “Looks like we solved the relic. Now we need to find a way to charge it.”

“That and what exactly this shard does.”

“We’r one step closer to prosperity, friend.” A pause. Orion put his hand out for me. “I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier. The truth is, the number of drinks we had last night really did a toll on my head. Even with the cure.”

I embraced his hand with my own. I eventually brought him in for a hug.

Knowing that we were one step closer to prosperity—the memory shard which was something Orion truly wanted in life—made me happy. We almost had what we really needed in life: Peace and freedom from the wicked (the Darkness).

“So now what?” I asked.

“We keep going.”

I followed Orion out of the temple, wondering how we were going to charge the relic.

Overwatch, Meridian Bay

Mars

Mars had to be the place I disliked the most, other than the Dreadnaught. The barren, Martian desert was a deadly place for friendly or foe. No matter how excellent your survival or combat skills were, Mars would often have something to counter them. The planet was dry and cold in some places, and gelid throughout when nightfall came around. Sandstorms would sometimes stir, making it almost impossible to navigate through. Dust devils sometimes formed as well.

Beyond the cities in the Meridian Bay, there was nothing but a near infinite span of desert stretching out every which way.

The worst part of Mars, to add unto the list, was the dreaded Cabal. One of the many reasons I hated being here. Not to mention the constant affair of getting sand in the boots. Once it’s in, it never gets out. So annoying!

Though, as much as I loathe this place, I couldn’t deny the history it possessed such as aiding in advanced research. What the research entailed, I didn’t have a clue.

My team was advancing to my position, while I warded off some Cabal that were patrolling the Overwatch, the topmost section of the Clovis Bray Complex. It was high up, let me tell you.

As I remained in cover, specifically behind a wall, splash damage was impairing my ability to retaliate. If I were to peek so much an inch, I’d be toast. As much as I detested the Cabal, I had to give them credit for their knowledge on weapons. They knew guns. Their arsenal was jam-packed with explosive, impressive volumes of firepower.

I slunk my way forward and found more cover behind an immovable crate. I could ascend the flight of stairs to my right and flank them—also giving me the high ground, but by the time I made a move, my team would already be landing, and with the onslaught happening…

Nope not on my watch.

There was a Centurion directing fire at me, along with a few Psions (god I hate those things; they had intense minds that are able to channel Arc waves, useful for attacking at a distance) and Legionaries.

Taking a leap of faith, I vaulted out cover, brandished my weapon, and readied for a fight. My priority targets were the Psions first since they were notorious for dealing high amounts of damage in little time. To make matters worse, they bore a Void shield, though my grenades were more than likely capable of wiping them out. For good measure, I conjured a few Vortex grenades and dispersed them in the direction of the Psions.

They cried out for battle as they rediscovered me in my scintillating glory. I double jumped in the air and opened fire while airborne. Although my weapon dealt Arc damage, it was a force of nature at this point; I had grown accustomed to the beast, and I couldn’t help but espy that the weapon had secretly become my friend, as I had it.

If the Cabal liked big guns, they would like this too.

As I landed, I ran forward, gun in one hand, knife in the other, shooting at the Psions who unleashed their devastating Arc wave attacks in unison. I shadestepped to the left, leaving me unscathed, and resumed my course of attack. Though my luck was quickly running dry, as I had a Centurion and a few Legionaries on my tail, at my current pace I would surely prevail. All I had to do was focus on one thing, and one thing alone, the Psions.

As I neared one, I threw my knife at the Psion’s head, killing it; the other two weren’t a problem, though they did prove to be worthy adversaries as one had mêléed me with its Arc strike, dazing me. I was vulnerable and hurt. I cloaked myself with a smoke bomb, but that didn’t stop the Psions from using their Arc waves. Both struck me, sending me tottering. I was staggered but invisible albeit not for long.

When my invisibility expired, the enemy didn’t cease fire on me; there was no mercy with the Cabal. I sought cover behind some carbon-infused block, waited for my shields to recover. In the meantime, I shot countless times at them, hoping my instrument of siege would do something, but it was all in vain. Then I summoned the comms. “Guys, where are you? I’m pinned down!”

There was no immediate response, so I took the liberty of throwing some Voidwall grenades (they sent a wall of burning Void Light, handy for blocking enemies from advancing toward you).

Then I heard something. “We’re almost there. Mouse was a bit late, so we had to wait for him to get ready,” Paledon said.

“Roger.”

I closed my eyes, hearing the uproarious gunfire plow against the block. Gathered my senses and bearings. Calmed the mind. Opened my eyes. I did a backflip out of cover and landed in front of my wall of Void fire. It was continuous and damaging, not to me, but to the Psion it entrapped. Its health slowly went down, then a cry of death sounded.

I overclocked my Boomer into doing more than what I believed it could handle and quickly dispatched the last Psion.

The only thing left was the Centurion and Legionaries.

As I ran shooting, I heard a spaceship revving in the distance. Four ships were making their way to me. They hovered a low height above the concrete resembling the contour of a helipad.

The rest of my fellow teammates rolled in with their weapons, firing upon the Centurion who raised its weapon and convoked; and shortly after, there was another group of Legionaries and Psions advancing, at least five to six of them for both.

I whipped around and regrouped with my fellow Guardians. “Hey, there,” I said before I quickly turned around and shot the Centurion with ruthless slaughter. “You ready for the mission, Mouse?”

Mouse stepped up, armed with a loaded Fusion Rifle and Pulse Rifle. “I am! Say, where’d you get that? I ought to get me one of those, they seem great and—”

“Mouse, focus!”

“Sorry. What do I have to do?”

“Help us with this foray,” Pathernax said. “Hunter, be easy on him, please.”

“Guys,” Paledon said, “we got company!”

Legionaries roared their way in the air with jetpacks and heavy weaponry. They would surely try to expunge us from the face of this complex, but their likelihood was low.

“All of you deal with the Legionaries, I’ll deal with the Centurion.”

“Got it,” my team said in unison.

We all went to work.

Although I had the reinforcements directing fire at me, I was able to withstand the damage as Legionaries typically had weaker weapons than their Centurion brethren. First, the Centurion, screaming a battle cry, ran toward me and whacked me over the head with his Projection Rife before annihilating me and using its thrusters on its jetpacks to evade my fire.

I swapped to my Lord of Wolves and fired. My rumbling shots struck my enemy, slowly nibbling away at the Solar shield. Eventually it vanished completely, giving me adequate opportunity to switch weapons and unleash brutality. In the middle of my ruinous wake, the Centurion retreated back a bit, gathering around his mates, hoping his shield would regenerate in time before striking again.

I didn’t let that happen. I provoked it to focus its attention on me and it did. It ran forward again, enraged, discharging concentrated shots on my positon. Most of the projectiles impacted me, but I prevailed and pushed through the barrage. Without realizing, I had lost my footing and tripped on some piece of metal debris lying around.

My foe quickly regained its shield back as most of my shots were misdirected because I was staggered to all hell. I glanced up, and the Centurion was still opening fire on me, and even took the liberity of tossing grenades at me. I quickly eluded the salvo and countering it with my own attacks.

Sweat was already soaking my body and my breathing was ragged. My arm was getting sore from the continuous fire. Pateince was running out like time, the latter being of the essence.

I switched to my Lord of Wolves once again and opened fire. Pellets of Solar rounds were sent flying, and they penetrated through the Centurion’s shield, and eventually it. Its cries resonated through the air and they were like a symphony of an orchestra.

I executed a front roll and caught the Centurion off guard with a lunge of my knife; I gyrated the blade around, yanked it out, then finished it off with a quick tap off of the trigger.

Boom, headshot!

The Centurion’s head inked some sort of dark blood. Its corpse tumbled to the ground like an old tree in a forest.

These were tough sons of bitches without a reasonable doubt.

Meanwhile, Paledon, Kabril, Mouse, and Pathernax were dealing with the small company of reinforcements, though I hardly would call Legionaries to be adversaries, given the power we were radiating collectively.

All of them, collectively, were utilizing the bob and weave motions to evade enemy fire. Pathernax had blinked behind a Legionary and blasted a shotgun shell through its upper torso, killing it.

Paledon was striking them down with his fists, while Kabril and Mouse were taking advantage of their grenades.

I stood there, drinking in the intense battle scene before me, watching my fireteam fight the very enemy I swore retribution on.

Soon we were the only ones standing.

“That was awesome!” Mouse said. He was jumping up and down in excitement. “Where to next?”

“I gotta give it to you, kid. You held yourself there really well. Especially against the Cabal,” I said. I patted him on the shoulder.

“So where do we go now?” Paledon asked.

“I think I have an idea. Let’s go.”

We traversed through the corridor and found ourselves standing in front of a wide bay door. Ghost scanned the control panel to open the door, and we trotted our way in. A fleet of Cabal were patrolling the area, leading us to another intense firefight.

There were a trio Psions, a few Centurions and Legionaries.

We all ran as a ground and barraged attacks onward. “Paledon, Pathernax, you two deal with the Centurions, Kabril, Mouse and I will get the rest. Let’s look alive, people!”

We advanced on the threats, taking considerable precaution on any traps these bastards might have set for us. The Cabal were cunning strategists as much as I hated to admit it.

Kabril ran forward and chucked an Arcbolt grenade at a trio of Psions; lightning chained from Psion to Psion, putting a moderate dent in their Void shields.

Mouse had done me a favour by using a few crafty thrown Fusion Sticky Grenades, ultimately eliminating the trio in a group. Wow, that kid is handy.

There were four Legionaries gathering around each other and discharging their firearms. I used a hand to signal my other teammates to stand-down and enjoy the show. I wasn’t going to keep this low-key; I had no mercy to spare for the Cabal.

I crept closer, one foot at a time, with my finger on the trigger, taking the damage being dealt to me. I didn’t lose my focus or steadfastness; I remained indomitable and unwavering. I raised my weapon and blitzed my foe with barbarous punishment. My explosive lobes of Arc bolts caused the Legionaries to flinch and wobble. They slowly retreated back as they must’ve got the hint that I was not messing around.

At some point I stopped, unsure why I ceased my assail; but it quickly came to me. I relaxed, closed my eyes, and exhaled. I was taking damage again, yes, but my determination outweighed the pain. I grasped the powers of the Void, pulling directly from the vast vacuum of space: It bestowed me my wonderful friend, the Shadowshot, my bow and arrow.

I quickly dispatched the Legionaries with swift arrows, each of them wallowing in pain as their form disintegrated into the thin air. Before I knew it, there were more Cabal soldiers on the way—Psions, Legionaries, and even Phalanxess. At least a dozen more were surrounding us. What the hell had we done to get this much attention? Were they seriously feeling threatened, now of all times?

I whipped my head around and saw Pathernax using a sword to combat the Centurion, while Paledon was using his hammers to strike the unrelenting force of the Sun itself against it. Flames ingulfed the form of our dead enemy—oh how lovely it was to see something so annoying, so perpetually astute, experience its demise. It was sublime, the boon to victory!

But there was no time for a victory party yet. We were greatly outnumbered, without a doubt, but with the Light by our side, we couldn’t falter. Not now, not ever. “Paledon!” I yelled.

He snapped his attention to me—I to the company of foes surrounding me. Without another word, I channeled my remaining Light and drew forth the darkest, most powerful type of Shadowshot I knew how to exhibit: Blackhole. “Kabril, Mouse, protect me!”

With that, I channeled more Light, then drew from the Void again and summoned the Blackhole tether. Shadowshot touched the ground and immediately after every foe was tethered to a Void anchor. “Strike now, team!”

I, including everyone else, put their Light into striking down every Cabal that stood in our way. I was showing these impediments that the Light can be just as relentless as their military.

Paledon in particular Suncharged the group, causing them to implode from the sheer brutality of the Hammer of Sol. That had to hurt!

Everything perished in his wake. The only thing we could hear was his heavy breathing as his once fiery form dwindled.

“Grade A performance, team!” I said, brandishing my weapon, as did everyone else shortly after.

A little after our intense firefight, I had taken a seat on the floor, using the wall for back support. Mouse came over to where I was sitting. He leaded against a tower of computer servers and peered down at me. I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t seem to have any words for the occasion, which was odd coming from Mouse. Neither did I. So I sat there for several minutes, waiting until Ghost got something of interest.

I was daydreaming about what had happened earlier this morning—my psychotic state; but I was yanked out of my quiet reverie by a cough.

“I appreciate you doing this for me,” Mouse said. “You know, I’ll always be in your debt now. Giving me the chance to join a fireteam will really boaster my chances of getting into other fireteams in far future, you know?”

I stood up. “You’re welcome. You’ve handled yourself quite well for a Sunsinger. I’m impressed.”

“Just doing what I can to keep my flames ablaze.”

“So where are the others?” I asked, playing with my blade.

“Clearing our some Cabal in the other section.”

“Why aren’t you having fun with them?”

“Because,” he said, still leaning against the servers, “I thought this would be an opportune time for us to have a little one on one, you know?”

“I guess.”

“So what’s your secret?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your weapon. That’s a Boomer, right? How’d you get one and why does it work for you?”

“Long story,” I said, and then showcasing it. “I got it from the Warpriest when my fireteam raided deep within the Dreadnaught. It works like any ordinary weapon now. It did before, but it was…it’s hard to explain. I had it attuned awhile back.” I presented it to Mouse. “Here. You try it out.”

He waved a hand airily. “Oh, no, no, no, I can’t do that.”

“Sure you can. Hold it and pull the trigger.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Mouse took the weapon from my hold and wielded it. He brought it up to the air in my direction. “Whoa, whoa, not at me! Try over there.”

Mouse directed his aim elsewhere. I paid special attention to his finger on the trigger as well as how he was holding it. A bit too upright and erect. Holding the weapon in a slackened fashion was the bet approach. His finger pulled the trigger and—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Silence.

He turned his head to me. “I did it.”

“You sure did,” I said, still doing knife tricks. “How does it feel?”

“Amazing. I wish I had one of my own,” he said, giving my weapon back.

“Maybe one day I can help you get one of your own,” I said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. It can’t be that difficult. I mean—”

“Got something!” Ghost said over our conversation. “There’s an intact data store directly below us. Let’s go.”

“Well, you heard him.”

Mouse and I ran into the other room—where there were numerous dead Cabal carcasses scattered around. Nothing said we’re in the right place like dead enemies. My trio of teammates were in the distance, exchanging talk by the sounds of it. “So did you all have fun?” I asked, Mouse following behind me.

“We did,” Kabril said with tittering built up in her throat. “So did Ghost find anything?”

“Yep,” I said. “There an intact data store below us. It should contain what we need. It’s just a matter of finding it now. Ghost, you got anything?”

“I do, actually,” Ghost said, hovering over my hand. “We have to descend down. There’s an elevator shaft that’ll take up to where we need to be. I’ve marked I on everyone’s mini-map.”

“Understood,” I said, and Ghost vanished. “Well, let’s get a move on.”

The team and I came across another bay door that opened automatically. We found ourselves in a gigantic room. In front of us was a torn apart walkway that lead to a big drop if caution wasn’t exerted. Taking a left sharp turn, we quickly descended a short flight of stairs. Leaning over the railing, we saw some more Cabal guarding the closed elevator shaft. “Great,” I whispered. “More company. Just what we need.” I glanced over my shoulder. “What do you guys think we should do?”

“Kick their asses, that what we should do,” Mouse said, his voice sounding eager and ready for another fight.

“Or…” Kabril said, her words trailing, “we could slip past them like we were never here.”

“Pfft,” Mouse puffed, not sounding impressed. “What fun is that? Watch.”

With that, Mouse threw a few grenades downward, altering all the Cabal. There were mostly Legionnaires and a few Psions, thankfully, so there wasn’t anything robust in our way. But a part of me couldn’t help but think the data store below was going to contain an ambush.

The Cabal ambled about, shooting their weapons at us. I jumped down and directed some viscous fire, causing most of them to stagger. Grenades were raining down on us, though thankfully it was Kabril and Paledon, and Pathernax doing so. A mix of all elemental grenades? This should go over well.

In the maelstrom of Arc, Solar, and Void, the grenades mixed with one another, creating this rainbow grenade. Most of the enemies perished in the blast. When everything was dead, Mouse had peered up at the trio looking down on us. “See, what’d I tell you?”

Paledon took the liberty of opening the elevator with his Titan strength. He ripped those doors open with ease; I couldn’t have done that if my life depended on it.

The elevator shaft was dark, no question about it. I squatted down, leaned over to get a better look. I ignited a flare and tossed it down. The green flare met the ground and bounced around. “That is—”

“Quite the drop,” Kabril said. “What we do now?”

“We jump down, duh,” Mouse said, his voice sounding cheeky. “What else is there for us to do?”

“We could always take the safe route and repel down.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Kabril.”

She huffed. “Well, it’s better than what you got.”

Mouse didn’t say anything.

“We jump,” I said, still watching the flare combust. “I’ll go first. The rest of you shall follow.”

Taking a leap of faith, I gulped a mouthful of air before making a crazy decision. Gravity pulled me downward, and a rush of air struck my body as I descended, causing my heart to rush; I could feel the adrenaline course through my veins—giving me the rush I loved so very much. It felt like I was on a rollercoaster. As I neared the surface, I double jumped to pause my fall, making the impact less severe.

I reached the bottom.

“You alright, Hunter?” Paledon called out, leaning over the edge.

“I’m fine. It’s not that far down, actually,” I said, looking up. “You guys should make your way down. I’m going to see what this data store is all about.”

“All right, sounds good!”

I trotted my way into the complex and found myself at the foot of an old computer archive; computer terminals were scattered around, and there was a circular terminal all the way against the back wall. A grey diamond was marked on that very same terminal, according to my mini-map. “This must be what we need.”

Also, there were dead Fallen scattered around. I guess we wer in th right place.

The air was eerie for some reason, and it was something I couldn’t pinpoint why. I stood still. Drank in my surroundings. Something was up. Could it be an ambush about to happen. Perhaps. The Cabal were cunning when it came to ambushes. A tactical approach, a purposeful attack, rather than mindless combat. I had the jitters. I heard something fall directly behind me. I whipped around and aimed my weapon, only to see Paledon put his arms up on instinct. I exhaled the breath I was holding. “Oh,” I said. “Paledon, it’s only you.”

“Who else would it be, silly?” Paledon said, and moving toward me.

“I feel like there’s going to be an ambush at any moment.”

“Hunter, did I ever tell you that you worry too much? Because you do.”

“I’m telling you, something’s up. It’s my hunches again.”

Paledon laughed. I knew was only bubbling playfulness, but sometimes he was a downright featherbrain.

“I’m serious, Paledon. When have my hunches every been wrong? Never. We need to get the rest of the team down here before—”

Paledon placed a hand on my shoulder. “Relax. Even if there is an ambush, at least we have some notion that it could possibly happen. C’mon, let’s get your Ghost on that terminal so we can get what we came for.”

“Right.”

Pathernax, Kabril, and Mouse all joined us in a timely manner. I had told them about my worry that we were going to be ambushed here at any moment, but none of them paid any attention to it for some reason.

As Ghost went to work, Mouse came up to me. “So how am I doing so far?”

“You’re doing great,” I said. “I’m impressed. I suppose it wouldn’t hur to have a Sunsinger on my fireteam.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“You hear that, Pathernax?” Mouse said, nudging his Warlock companion. “You’re not the only Warlock here now.”

“Just what I need, another overly excited character to boaster my day,” Pathernax said in his smug voice.

“What’s with him,” Mouse whisphered to me.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s a big ol’ grump.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Pathernax said.

“Oh, lighten up,” Paledon said. “You should be glad you’re not the only Warlock in this fireteam now.”

“I guess,” Pathernax said in a monotone, his voice unimpressed.

Eventually Ghost had finally scrounged all the logs about SIVA. Or as many as he could. “I got some information,” he said. “There were multiple prototypes of SIVA, each progrrammed to serve a different function. One that builts constructs, viral armour enchancements—that’s neat—and we have a winner! Cybernetic diagnostics, excatly what the Fallen would need to do everything they plan on doing.”

“So will this be enough to identify a weakness in the Fallen’s hold on SIVA?” Pathernax asked.

“It should be. Now it’s a matter of finding the replication chamber.”

In an instant, a few dozen Cabal soliders, lead by Centurions and a Colossus, attacked us from all sides. “Great,” I said. “What did I tell you all?”

“We all had our backs against one another. We knuckled up.

Now it was only a matter of time before we got demolished by the ambush.

The Tower

The Last City

Earth

The night was dreary and overcast—the rain thrumming and stuttering as it hurled itself intermittently against the my room’s windowpane. Sheet lightning shimmered aloft, and the occasional clasp of thunder was enough to snap me back awake in the chair I was sitting in.

I was tired to say the least.

There were two piles of books that had been constructed beside me, the smaller consisting of information about the Vex, the larger bearing titles relating to anything about the memory crystal. Atop my desk lay pages of notes I had taken about two hours ago, as well as calculations that Pathernax had meticulously worked through the previous night, though I barely knew the guy. He had asked why I was so concerned with quantum mechanics, but I didn’t compute a response.

With a flick through my notes, I halted for a moment and sighed. This was getting exhausting. I had sequestered myself for at least thirty-two hours, in my room, without sleep. I didn’t quite know how I made it this far without passing out, but I did. Orion had insisted that I get some sleep, but I stubbornly refused. There was something about this memory crystal I couldn’t quite put my thumb on.

It was extremely enthralling to me.

I, slouched on my chair, rolled my body around, stood up with the little energy I had, and made my way to the window. I reached up and placed a hand on the glass, then gazed out. The dark-grey clouds were infinite, spanning violently and dominantly across the sky. Even the City was dark as there were no lights to illume our beautiful paradise. It was as if our City were nothing more than a distant memory when it slept serenely.

While we Guardians live rich, fulfilling lives of warding off the Darkness, the people of the City live a life of prosperity and security. Part of me wishes I could retire from this mess and lead a normal life; but I couldn’t. Our world is worth fighting for.

But did I truly have that sentiment?

I glanced back at my desk.

No…I guess I didn’t.

I suppose I had my own interests in mind, rather than those of the City. Not just me, but Orion too. Did that make me a bad Guardian? Had I fallen into a pit of apathy? I hadn’t left my room for at least a few days. That means more threats looming around us.

But I was only one Guardian. I didn’t equate to the amount of Guardians that were fighting day in and day out, obviously. A part of me wished I could forget about the memory crystal and just focus on doing what I do best: Protecting the City.

But I couldn’t! I made a promise to Orion, my brother, to my companion that I would see the end of this. It was our final adventure together, and it needed to be the best one.

In fact, Orion had dropped by my room a few hours ago to check up on me. We had been distant to one another since we discovered the relic back on Venus. The feeling of distance was unearthly to me, especially with Orion. We were rarely in disarray or remote. It was like discovering the memory crystal had done more harm than good and would still continue to do so. There was a deleterious vibe I couldn’t help but sense in all this—as if there was some underlying plan I wasn’t aware of, some plan Orion was brewing without my knowledge or consideration; but I doubt he would deceive me like that.

Both of us redeemed ourselves (together) in past existential crises. We defeated Sepiks Prime in the Devil’s lair, helped eradicate the Nexus Mind on Venus, and even assisted in capturing Skolas, the latter being our latest victory. I’d be a blind fool to believe Orion and I were without history, or some form of past. We had lots of history together. Blood brothers, by concept, often went far; Orion and I went beyond. Or perhaps he was deceiving me and I refused to believe or see it. Either way, I was determined enough to crack this mystery.

But somehow I wondered if this prosperity business was really worth it. Would I really be better off with my mind conjoined with another, just so I could live an unconscious life away from all the pain, anger, hatred, darkness, you name it, that exists in the universe? Or would I be better off being one with the universe? Everything in life is there for a reason—it is purposeful and fulfilling. If there was something unyielding, then there would be chaos and an absence of balance.

Maybe I was looking at things in a tainted perspective. Anyone with a right mind doesn’t like pain, but it was what drove us forward; when the Darkness comes for us, or takes away a loved one, or when tragedy strikes, we learn from its motion; the act strengthens us. The universe summons our faults and fears; when we leave them behind, it makes us vulnerable and uncertain in the future.

But while I believe in that notion, accepting pain is far from an easy feat. It can take an indefinite amount of time to overcome something so horrent. That’s why prosperity is a beautiful thing; there is never worry or doubt on the horizon. I just hope I never experience true despair; it would break me.

A crack of thunder sounded, pulling me out of my train of thoughts.

I didn’t mean for this to come off as a stream of consciousness. It happens sometimes.

Turning around, I stepped up to my desk and trailed a finger along a page with margins of text. They bore my writing, though I doubt anyone would be able to decipher any of it. I took a seat on my chair and propped my head up with a fist. Sighed.

What could we use to charge to relic we found? And how?

I randomly grabbed a book from the stack and flipped through it—my flame and determination withering like a dying star. The book was a journal, authored by some Warlock long ago. The writings were barely legible, but I could make out what was being elucidated.

As I read, my eyes jumping from one line of text to the next, a sudden outburst of hope and discovery jounced my form. I felt my eyes dilate as I advanced on, realizing that I found a solution.

I didn’t know if it was provisional luck by my side or good fortune or if prosperity was  already crawling its way to me. Either way, Orion will be ecstatic when he hears about this.

I leaned back in my chair. Glanced at a photo of Orion and me. Seeing it made me smile for the first time in awhile now. In many ways I was already in prosperity. I was a Guardian with the bestest friend I could ask for. Come to think of it, what more do I need? That thought never occurred to me until now.

Soon I found warmth and comfort in my bed. I stared out my windowpane, seeing the world, the rainfall, the lightning. And eventually that world faded to black.

Overwatch, Meridian Bay

Mars

Darkness Zone

We were cornered. There was no question about it. Cabal were advancing on our position as we slowly got closer together. Before I could say anything, Paledon summoned a bubble to protect us. “Guys,” he said, his hands drawn out, “I don’t want to be this guy. But this bubble isn’t going to hold for much longer. Not with the volume of firepower we’re about to endure.”

“You Titans and your walls,” Pathernax said, his voice smug and cheeky. “So faulty.”

“Not now, Pathernax,” I said, taking a knee to assess the situation. “We need to act fast. And now.”

“What are we going to do?” Mouse asked.

“We challenge,” I said, determination filling me.

There were at least a half-dozen Psions, Legionaries, and Phalanxes. They weren’t our main concern though—but the Centurions and the Colossus were, the latter being a giant, heavily armed enemy with a mini-gun and a whole lot of rockets. It was an Imperial Colossus too, according to my tactical visor; Imperial meaning they were higher in both stature and ranking. If you thought taking out a Centurion was a challenge, try warding off a Colossus.

This was going to hurt.

“We have to prioritize that Colossus. If we don’t take that out first, there’s no way we’re getting out of here alive.”

“Wow,” Pathernax said. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. Did you forget that we took out a Hive god?”

“Guys,” Paledon said, struggling to keep the bubble open. His arms were trembling violently. “Attack now!”

“We don’t have a plan yet,” Pathernax said.

“Improvise. I can’t hold it any more.”

I jumped in the air and chucked a few Vortex Grenades at a trio of Psions that were seeking cover and opening fire upon us, then landed back in the unstable bubble. They trailed back from the threat, but remained resolute despite my assault. The Legionaries and Phalanxes were advancing on us without fear, no doubt to show their commanders the courage they required to crawl their way up to a higher ranking.

“Guys,” I said. “Just attack. We’ll formulate a plan of attack as we fight. Strike now, team!”

Paledon relieved his bubble, then collapsed to the ground. I cloaked him with a smoke bomb, which should give him more than enough time to recover and fight back.

Mouse and Kabril were opening fire on a few Legionaries, and Phalanxes, the former flinching and finding it difficult to keep a steady stream of bullets on them. They roared in battle, shooting their Slug Rifles and remained steadfast. At one point, a Legionary charged forward, like a mad man, and whacked Mouse with its weapon, but that was the Legionary’s biggest mistake: Mouse had thwacked the Legionary with a Scotch Melee, disregarding it into Solar particles. The other Legionaries and Phalanxes stepped back, not wanting to endure the same fate of their passed comrade.

Kabril had activated her Bladedancer ultimate and charged forward, throwing her blades at the small group of Legionaries, their form vaporizing into a cloud of Arc energy. She advanced, slicing and dicing anything that stepped in her way; an Arcbolt grenade found its way to the trio of Psions I had tried to eliminate earlier, but it did little to nothing. Soon she withdrew and found comfort being closer to her teammates.

Meanwhile, I was focusing on directing high volumes of concentrated fire (from my Boomer) to the Colossus, though it was hardly doing any damage, if at all.

“Fall back!” I shouted over the gunfire.

We retreated to a large carbon-infused block, which was more than adequate cover. My entire team was in cover, firing away at the threats, and I eventually opened fire, rocking the battle ground. The floor beneath us vibrated with my uproarious weapon. It was an opera to my ears!

At some point, the Colossus had pushed forward, launching a volley of rockets on our position. “Get down!” And as soon as I said that, we ducked, feeling the intense shockwave of explosions occurring just on the other side of us. My ears were ringing from shell-shock, albeit it didn’t last for more than a few seconds.

I shook my head to hear the ringing, the noises and the feeling of aftershock.

We endured wave upon wave of rockets until we were all ready to strike back.

Paledon vaulted out of cover and deployed another bubble for us, this time a stationary one. We all sought cover inside, then popped out to assail.

I ran ahead a little and opened fire, concentrated shots being exuded from my weapon. My projectiles were chipping away at the thick armour the Colossus bore, and the others were focusing on other threats, while aiding me with the Colossus—shooing its mini gun at me, putting me in critical health—every now and then.

At some point, as I was discharging volleys, I noticed a faint, blurry figure walking in the background of everything. Soon the shadowy figure snapped its attention to me; it was like I had diplopia. As it warped its way to me, it became clearer on who it was: Orion. He was standing in the middle of the battleground, under some complex on Mars. He had a wide, evil smile on his face.

I was dazed momentarily. I stopped firing and, without realizing it, said,  “Orion? Orion! It’s really you!” I stepped forward, through the Cabal onslaught; my shields were critical without a doubt.

“Hunter…”Orion’s voice resonated. “Come to me. Come with me. The memory crystal calls for you.”

“I never found out the truth about it though. I'm sorry for failing you! I never told you this but I was in love with you and I—”

“Hunter!” Pathernax said. He teleported to me, then teleported me to the bubble with Blink. “Snap out of it!”

I shook my head and peered over Pathernax’s shoulder, but Orion was gone. “Wha-what?”

“Talk later. Get your head in the game!” Pathernax said blinking out to combat a few Phalanxes. They smashed their impenetrable shields with their weapons and opened fire on the Warlock; but they were quickly surprised when they saw my comrade directly behind them with a loaded shotgun. A couple of shells clinked to the floor, and the Phalanxes tumbled down like pawns in a game of chess. A few rounds were loaded into the shotgun, and Pathernax quickly Blinked out of a barrage of attacks. His teleport brought him to the trio of Psions that were causing a bit of havoc earlier. In unison, they unleashed their devastating Arc Wave attack, sending the Warlock reeling. His sheilds were critically low.

“Paledon! Help, Path!” I shouted, gathering my mindset back together. I relaxed, took a deep breath, calmed my nerves and exited the bubble. I directed suppressive fire using a combination of my grenades and Boomer. Suppression was our best chance of victory now.

Paledon ran forward, shooting his Thunderlord at any immediate threats. He switched weapons and lanced straight up in the air, then fired rockets down at the Psions. As soon as his rockets detonated, a mini bomb cluster erupted, killing the group of Psions. By the time Paledon reached Pathernax, the Warlock recovered and focused on the remaining threats.

Meanwhile, Mouse and Kabril were working together to eliminate the remaining Legionnaires and Phalanxes. Kabril was charging up her Fusion Rifle—what one I didn’t have a clue—and eventually deadly Arc bolts beamed at her target; a Legionary volatilized instantly. Mouse had taken charge and took advantage of his Sunsinger abilities, known to harvest numerous grenades without worrying about a lengthy recharge. He had stuck the remaining victims with Fusion Grenades, the blast killing them instantaneously.

Now there were only a few scattered Psions, the Centurion, and Colossus.

My team stacked up near the carbon-infused block and we got ready for the battle of the century.

I double jumped to the top of the block, strafed the remaining threats. Rapid fire was my course of action; my Boomer discharged at least twenty-two shots, all done without a reload. The Colossus staggered, then stomped its left foot out of anger. It raised its arm and weapon upward, launching a clustor of rockets. I evaded the attack with a swift jump, then landed on the ground. The Colossus readied its minigun and fired at me. I ran and ran, rolled and rolled, jumped and jumped. I found myself taking cover behind some structure. I popped out and retaliated with a vendetta and bloodshed.

More rockets were strafed to my position; this time they struck the ground, and the splash damage affected me greatly. I faltered for a second, but prevailed. A pain in my lower abdomen seared, forcing me to the ground. The pain grew outward and nearly paralysed me. That was until I sucked it all up and edured the agony.

My team was presenting the enemy with ruthless suppressive fire, allowing me to get my wits and bearings together. The Colossus advanced toward my teammates, unleashing rockets on their position.

I was getting tired of this Imperial Colossus.

At some point the Centurion motioned his way in front of his higher stature and began its own line of suppressive fire. My comrades were pinned down without a doubt.

This fight had gone on longer enough.

“Hey, rockethead!” I said as I stepped out of cover. Both the Centurion and Colossus snapped their attention on me. “Leave them alone or you’ll get what’s coming to you!”

The only response I got was an angry cry for war and retribution, undoubtedly from us killing their comrades. The two soldiers opened fire on me, but I quickly vanished into thin air with the help of a smoke bomb; if I hadn’t moved, a volley of rockets would’ve wiped me out. I appeared mere inches away from their forms and drew Light from the Void. I had my old friend once again. I released the bowstring and a black hole tether struck the floor.

Both of them were slower than a turtle and the Centurion couldn’t elude out of my beautiful power. I smote them with barbarous cruelty, as did the rest of my fireteam. The Centurion lost its Solar Shield and faltered with a decapitated head, while the Colossus didn’t falter so easily. At least yet.

I had Pathernax to thank for that one.

He Blinked behind the Colossus, unloaded a few shotgun shells, then teleported to the air. In the palm of his hand was an unstable shell of Void energy. It grew exponentially, and eventually he threw it, disintegrating it into a cloud of Void particles.

The only remaining adversaries were the Psions, but they were hardly a threat.

As we lowered our weapons, I turned to face my fireteam. All of them, every single one of them, were looking at me—no doubt from my visionary experience earlier on. “What?” I said.

“Hunter…”Paledon said. Of course he would be the first one to speak. “Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I dunno, maybe because you had a psychotic breakdown? I saved you, remember?” Pathernax said.

“How could I forget?” I noticed a glowing fragment in the corner of a computer terminal. “Found another cluster. Up there. Someone go get it.”

“Shouldn’t we talk about what happened? As your fireteam, I think we have the right to know—”

I cut Pathernax off. “Just drop it, okay? Get the cluster and let’s get going. I don’t want to be here longer than we have to.”

With my good hearing, I heard Paledon whisper (to my fireteam members), “I’ll talk to him.”

I transmatted myself out of there, hoping my fireteam would join me in orbit.