A/N: Enjoy chap
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[Sanctuary, Ocean of Storms]
The players dropped in one after another— small bursts of glimmer scattered around the tents as they apparated in, their ghosts pulsing.
The Moon's air felt thin, its winds howled with a wretched chill, the kind that sank deep into your bones, gripped your skin and froze your breath.
Waffles landed first and spun a slow circle. "Okay… this is sick."
The Sanctuary was a wide campground, one secretively dug into the barren lunar soil, its walls were built from ship plates and scrap, wire-bound neon lamps hung off the canopies of the tents, and at its entrance were watchtowers planted like stakes with their backs to base. Across Sanctuary, in the distance beyond the ridge, there was Hellmouth. A necropolis that cut a black seam into the horizon.
BearSpray's boots hit the ground, and he took it in—the lanes, the tents, he couldn't help but grin to himself. TheOneWhoKnocks, Undecided, Gandalf, ThunderClappin, ILoveLoot and IEatPain transmatted in behind him. But as they did, soon more transmats triggered behind them, names they didn't recognise, from all over. Suddenly, the place felt alive.
"Holy shi*" Gandalf hissed, "All these people unlocked Sanctuary? I thought it was just us."
Undecided shook his head, "It's been a while since we got a new mission; everyone probably had enough time to catch up."
"True, besides." TheOneWhoKnocks glanced at BearSpray, "They did have a play-by-play of the mission, so I'm guessing completing it wasn't that hard."
BearSpray shrugged, "Let's just get into this one."
Then a prompt slid into everyone's HUD, simple and clean.
[Mission: Princes of the Sword]
[Objective: FIND VIPER IN SANCTUARY.]
Waypoints lit along their visors, directing them to the centre. Everyone ran. They cut past the water drums, under the line of lamps, around a line of Titans arguing with a crate. At the big tent and the waypoint stalled, blinking at its entrance.
The flap shifted. Viper stepped out, and the mission updated.
The noise settled on its own. Viper's eyes widened as he saw a large crowd of players surround him. His eyes darted to the left and then to the right. More than a hundred had gathered.
He raised a hand.
"I see you're all here." Viper's hand lowered; he sauntered forward with his sword gleaming at his side. Viper walked through the crowd, coming to a stop as he directly faced Hellmouth in the distance.
"Allow me to tell you why."
From the players' side of things, the UI tagged it automatically—CUTSCENE.
The world faded and came back with the colour knocked down a notch. The camera drifted over a battlefield, barren lunar sands, and a burning green sky. It rolled over trenches that had been cut into the sand to hold a line and did—barely. The players saw thousands of guardians march into battle, facing the Hive legions head-on. Then the angle changed, and Hellmouth's shape moved under the frame like a storm front.
Viper's voice came steady. "The Moon is not a simple place. For centuries, it housed the dark, fostered its armies and served as their heart. We learned that the hard way. The Hive sought to conquer us, to lay waste to earth and everything in it."
He paused.
"Blinded by our light, we sought to do the same. We raised our armies, we brandished our power, and attacked with all our might." Viper's hands formed into a fist, his eyes flickering as if a memory flashed in his mind. "But the dark was stronger than we thought."
The camera tracked a large shadow crossing the ground. An emerald blade kissed the edge of the frame, and even in a memory, you felt the weight shift. A dark tide crept above the horizon; the prince of ruin had arrived.
"He was stronger than we thought." Viper's voice echoed again, "Crota, the World-Breaker. He ravaged our armies and reaped our light."
Viper paused again, his words reverberating in the dark, "Now, the world-breaker slumbers."
The view fell into the Hellmouth. The core opened up: a chamber like a dark heart tipped on its side. At the centre, a crystal hung as if the air were thick enough to hold it—a wretched thing humming with a slow green light. It pulsed. Runes crawled around it, and it quivered, shaking the very fabric of existence, like a wound in the world.
"This is our only chance; we must strike and take away his power, take away his strength. We must break his blade."
"Crota's sword was made through a vow. You'll track the sword princes," Viper said. "You find their nests. You kill each one. When the last oath breaks, the sword will be unmade."
The picture cut to him—Viper standing in a dark corridor with the Ahamkara blade in his hand. The pale light on the edge leaked into the frame and stained everything with a strange, cold grey. For a second, the dark seemed to reel away.
"They will try their best to stop you. They'll try everything they can." He said and drew his sword, "But I'll be there for you, by your side. No matter what happens, I'll stop it all."
The cutscene ended. Back in the tent, the sound returned all at once—low chatters, a sharp breath, and the crowd of players were utterly mesmerised.
On their HUD, the map of the Moon zoomed open. Sanctuary pulsed. A straight line ran from the camp into the Hellmouth, then split into seven small points.
[OBJECTIVE UPDATED: ELIMINATE THE SWARM PRINCES (0/6)].
Transmat circles bloomed. Fireteams burned up into orbit two at a time, three at a time. The air filled with the soft hiss of departures. Ghosts popped, dimmed, and went. The camp caught its breath between waves. When the last group went, Sanctuary felt briefly too big and then settled back into itself.
Tevis exited the tent and glanced at Void. "Looks like they're on their way."
Bandit and Cory were already moving. Levi tightened his wrap and twirled a knife once as he walked out.
Tevis squeezed Viper's shoulder as he passed. "Be safe."
Viper nodded, "I will, just keep the new lights safe."
Levi bumped his knuckles against Viper's chassis. "Try not to die in there."
Pahanin didn't say anything. He tapped two fingers against the back of Viper's hand and was gone.
Viper stood there half a second longer, the tent flap lifting and falling at his back. Obsidian hovered in ahead of him. "New Lights inbound to Hellmouth."
"Good," Viper said. He nodded once. "Let's go."
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[War room, Sanctuary[
Ikorra stood with one hand on the table, eyes steady on the big screen. Zavala brooded beside her. Cayde had a shoulder on the wall and a boot hooked on the rung of a chair while he rolled his shoulders.
When the first hundred New Lights went through, the Vanguard fell silent. The counter at the bottom of the display kept climbing. The feed cut wide just long enough to show the crowd listening to Viper, then came back.
Ikorra spoke without taking her eyes off it. "He's more than we give him credit for."
Zavala didn't argue. A faint smile curled up his lips. "He is."
"I didn't think he was the type to give speeches." Ikorra nodded, "Especially ones that get the New Lights to go in there willingly."
Cayde shook his head. "Nah, you're still missing something there."
Ikorra looked across, brow up. "Then show me."
"It's not the speech," Cayde said. His voice came out lighter than the words. "He doesn't put a hook in their ears, doesn't flash a promise in their eyes. The rookies aren't following him because he told them to be brave."
Ikorra's mouth thinned a fraction. She went back to the screen. "What exactly are they listening to him for?"
Cayde smirked. "Because he's going first."
"Is that the reason?" Ikorra glanced at the feed again.
"It usually is," Cayde said. He tapped a knuckle against the console edge. "I mean, Void's a crazy bastard. He walks into places I'd bet against and comes out with something we can use. If you're new and you've been thrown into a hole like the Hellmouth, you'll follow the person who doesn't blink. That's it."
Zavala's eyes traced the flow of dots sliding into the Veil, "For some reason, it sounds more reckless when you put it like that."
"Well, that's the point, isn't it?" Cayde said, not smiling. "It is reckless, but who'd you rather have on your side? The mad bastard willing to walk ahead, or people just shouting directions from a hundred miles away?"
Ikorra breathed out through her nose. "He said he'd be inside the castle, inside Hellmouth"
"Yep, and I believe he's crazy enough to go in there." Cayde shrugged.
Ikorra finally smiled, "In a way, I see what you mean. He's daring, but competent."
Cayde chuckled, "There's no hunter that is daring and competent. Nah, those people? They're called crazy."
Ikorra didn't look away from the map. "They believe in him," she said, matter-of-factly.
Zavala took in a breath. He glanced towards the screen as he saw Void staring into the distance, and as his figure flickered away, Zavala's jaw tightened.
"So do I." He uttered faintly.
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A/N: Aite, boys, hope y'all liked it. Got dogged by work, so couldn't upload yesterday. Anyhow, thanks for the new reviews! Hope there's more to come.......(Please send more reviews.)
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