Oryx was not confronted and “slain” near the Trenchway in his smaller throne room on the Dreadnaught. Instead he was left alone to plot while guardians and leaders of the tower got together to build a super weapon to combat the Dreadnaughts defenses. Their aim was to fire it into space and cripple the Dreadnaughts super weapon, thus providing safe landing on their territory. There would then be a full on invasion of guardians and leaders near and far. The Vestian Outpost and The Last City would get together to end Oryx’s rampage. With the fallen on our side, winning this war would be very possible. Oryx’s army of Taken will be a major problem, but the fact remains that Oryx himself is weak, he has not yet taken his own body. With our masses united, conquering those who stand in our way to the king such as The Warpriest, Golgoroth, and The Daughters, will be fairly simple. But dealing with Oryx in his ascendant form will be a problem of its own. We have confronted Oryx many times before, but he was not in his true domain. On the Dreadnaught in his throne room he is a giant with much more power. Legend says his body as a whole outstretched could cover a third of earth’s moon. With his full power he is able to warp and bend reality to his will. Creating Echos and Shades left and right. Pulling hundreds of thralls through the spacetime continuum at the flick of a hand. Ripping and cracking the air around us. Conjuring massive swords in the blink of an eye. Without his endless army, slaying Oryx once and for all would be simple. That is why we need to construct a superweapon to soften his defenses. Much like the first assault on Crota (his son) we would rush in and bombard him with everything we have. Hopefully in this case the losses would be much less staggering. Thousands of guardians were lost in the battle with Crota. We must not repeat that. If every soldier was equipped with a Touch Of Malice, we would be in and out with the kings head in a matter of minutes. But first we must travel back into the Vault to harness Vex technology that could potentially blow a hole in the Dreadnaught. We will need to work our way back into Atheons room of glass and extract Vex energy from the core. After we harness the power of these wretched machines we will be able to apply it to an object capable of mass destruction. Almost like a nuke. Since the Vex are also linked with time travel and teleportation we will be able to send it into the Dreadnaught with ease. No missiles will be launched. No lasers will be fired. A quick, quiet, and very deadly plan. Traversing the Vault of Glass will be a long and treacherous journey. Vex are one with the time stream, we must remember that past threats may still be there. It is very possible that Atheon will be there again to protect the heart of Vex energy. Just like he was many years ago. But now we are much better equipped. Our light is stronger and we are more experienced with the art of relic wielding. Do not forget the Templar and the Gatekeepers that stand in our way. After we acquire the Vex technology we will find a way to insert it into a single helium filament. Then it will be sent into space and dropped down the main valve of the superweapons core inside the Dreadnaught. Soon after it is secured, we will detonate it and launch our attack. As of now we are already preparing our fleets. Commander Zavala is sending a team of six guardians back onto Venus to infiltrate the Vault. There is no doubt that there will be Taken Vex there to combat us. Oryx’s minions are everywhere. They are not bound by space or time, much like the Vex but more limited. We must slay the Templar all over again. But this time it will be much more challenging. We will need to duplicate Relics. The Tower advises sending two Warlocks, two Hunters, and of course two Titans. Both Titans will probably wield Shield Relics due to their natural armor and training with the ancient artifacts. They are already extremely skilled with the objects so they are the best pick. The other four of us will be dealing damage to the boss. After the Templar is cleared, there will only be miles of desolate ground in front of us. We must traverse through the many complicated layers of the inner Vault. Once we reach Atheon’s room we must slay the Gatekeepers and gain control of the Relics again. It should be fairly easy compared to fighting Oryx. Now, after we acquire the weapon and “neutralize” the Dreadnaught’s capabilities, we will move as a group throughout the massive ships quarters towards the very top. Once the highest point is achieved, the Daughters will be awaiting us. After they are vanquished, Oryx should soon appear from his hiding place. He will be very startled and angry with us for slaying more of his children. Hopefully we will catch him off guard. The combination of us previously slaying his son and now his daughters will be overwhelming. Our plan is for him to charge us with only his sword so that we may kill him without any further complication. He will most likely pull us into the Shade World where we are weak and disoriented. But little does he know that we are well prepared. Our mere numbers will be enough to catch him in place and finish him. This will be the turning point for the war. But first and most importantly we must secure the Vault without casualty.
Story(Part 1):
This day two strong and mighty Titans, two tricky and speedy Hunters, and two clever yet ancient Warlocks were to embark on a treacherous journey. Commander Zavala had come up with a foolproof plan for them to take out Oryx. As we speak the guardians had already landed on Venus and were quickly making their way underground. Luckily the Vault doors had been held open from the last time we were here. Unfortunately that also meant that Taken were thriving deep inside. The guardians first encountered the Taken near the Templar’s Well. No Templar so far but to make up for it there were plenty of Taken Captains and Centurions. Very strange as to how we had not yet seen any Vex threats. This was their home turf after all. Now that I think about it the Taken could have possibly driven them all out. In that case it may just work in our favor. The Taken here were strong, with light equal that of ours. Collectively after they had cleared out every Taken menace and their responding Blights they started to search for a way through the hard copper door ahead. Last time they were here the Templar held the key to getting inside, but he was not here now. After a few minutes the fire team decided to split up and look further for a way in. One of the titans who had gone farther away from the rest started to yell for them to come over. He had found something. They all ran over and grouped up around the spirit bloom chest hidden inside the secret cave. Except for one thing, the chest was not there like the last time. Where it used to sit there was now a shimmering black Taken portal on the floor. Without a second thought we all jumped through. I wondered to myself why it was there to begin with; the Taken had probably placed it there to gain access to Atheon’s room faster. Instead of traveling the whole way through the Gorgon Maze and the jumping puzzles this portal just took us straight to the heart of the Vault. That was exactly what these guardians needed at the time. As the fabric of reality warped and shimmered back together around us, familiar scenery flooded our senses.They had arrived now, the giant glass shards surrounding the cliff were still hanging overhead only a few hundred feet away. A weird realization occurred to them that it looked kind of like a doorway. The way that the huge thick hard glowing pieces were centered facing downwards in an arc gave off the vibe that they were supposed to enter there. And in fact they were. All six of them walked at a steady pace aiming for the glimmering shards of energy. Three of them took the right side and three took the left, avoiding the middle gap altogether. Each of them stopped and looked at the round portals to the past on the right and left sides for a second or two. Thank God we didn’t have to go back in there; many unpleasant memories were shared. The objective was straight ahead, at last nothing to stop us. The obvious leader, a fearless Warlock, stepped forward into the shadows of the overhanging glass ceiling, he was going to extract the essence of Vex technology with his magic. The power was abundant here, quite possibly enough to wipe out Saturn and all its moons entirely, but we only needed enough to level the Dreadnaught. He pulled out a single helium filament from underneath his cloak. That was all that we would need, it would do the job just fine. He opened up one end of the small cylindrical tube and plugged it into the iridescent glass wall. It looked kind of like an odd soda can filled with light. It started to glow from inside with intense light, filling up with immense power. It only took a few seconds to transfer a substantial amount of energy from inside the Vault of Glass into this small, skinny, clearish canister. Now that our bomb was swirling inside we had gotten what we had wanted and it was time to leave. We reactivated both portals and in two teams of three, and stepped through. Strangely these Vex transfer gates brought us right back out onto the surface near the vault door. Cayde had already arranged for a ship to be there to pick us up right on time. So far everything was going exceptionally well. We were way ahead of our time schedule thanks to the unexpected appearance of the Taken portal. Once onboard, the ship was much bigger than the ones that we were used to. It was fit to carry several fireteams at once. Each one of us was extracted up into the expansive vessel, where we were met right away by Ikora who greeted us and then led us towards the control room. Inside the control room sat Cayde who was currently driving. He looked back and waved at us for a second and then continued to fly the ship. “Good to see you back in one piece Guardians” he spoke from behind his chair. He then continued to brief us, “Unfortunately for you we will not be stopping by the Tower first. We are going straight towards the Dreadnaught to get the job done once and for all.” Taking in the news we quickly glanced at one another; anxious faces all around. The Warlock who was in possession of the “bomb” then reached forward and cautiously handed it to Cayde. “Don’t worry about this lil’ thing. I’ll take care of it.” He then added, “Your only job is to infiltrate the Dreadnaught and slay Oryx. I’ll make sure to deal with the dirty work. You’re welcome by the way.” He slowly moved the charged helium filament around in his hand. After a few more seconds of running his fingers over it he then pocketed it and said, “We are nearing the rings of Saturn now, I strongly advise that you ready yourselves. Big trip ahead of ya. Be brave.” One by one we holstered and un-holstered our weapons, precisely checking them over and over. We fastened our armor and took the time to wipe off some debris from our earlier incursions. Both Warlocks were equipped with Dark Drinkers, as well as the two Titans with Raze-Lighters, and the Hunters with Bolt Casters. They all shined and sharpened their vicious blades, double checking that they were stocked up on energy for them. They were ready. They would surely be in and out in no time. As our ship careened around Saturn’s massive rings, the lead flagship of Oryx’s fleet nestled itself deep inside. The dead cold of space outside frosted our window and fogged the view of the ship as we got closer to the rings. The Dreadnaught was now in sight. At the last second Cayde called up the Reef and told them to prepare their forces. The Queen replied with a mocking tone, “We already have sir. Waiting on your order.” Cayde sighed half playfully and half agitated, shortly after Ikora was heard laughing in the background. The six guardians anxiously lined up in the back room of the ship near the hangar door. Any second now they would be deployed on the most important mission of their life and possibly trillions of those after them. After what seemed to be an hour of waiting Cayde finally gave us the signal. He lowered the ship within safe landing range of the Hull Breach and then started to open the hangar door. It was maybe a three story drop. From here we could clearly see the crashed cabal ship wreckage still burning. Right as we were about to jump down Cayde said, “Once you guys land me and Ikora will go deliver the bomb. By the time that you have reached the Court, activated the statues, and opened the portal it will be primed and ready.” Without any further discussion we then departed. Thanks to our high-tech armor the fall did not affect us too tremendously. As soon as our feet made contact with the rough, crunchy like dirt we began running towards the Mausoleum as a group. In no time we had left the Hull Breach and cut through the Mausoleum over to Oryx’s Court. Each and every one of us carried a single tier one rune. One after the other we inserted them into all six of the large thrall statues. The tall boney carvings surged with power and transferred our request to the main entrance. The portal on the far side of the room started to glow and hum and just like Cayde had said. At that moment a well known comforting voice came over our intercom and told us that everything was in place. Ikora, brave female Warlock, infamous at the Tower for her duties in earlier missions, bared a strangely assuring voice. Those words from her were all that we needed. We briskly jogged towards the portal and entered it. Cayde came on again through our ears, “The entire battalion of the Reef is now on its way. ETA of...let’s go with a minute or two. As you know they like to take their time.” He then chuckled. Good old Cayde, even in the face of approaching evil he still had his humor. Now that we were through the portal we were standing there taking in our surroundings. The rippling feeling of the portal still held an odd effect on us even after all this time. Every time we crossed the threshold of the Ascendent realm we were also greeted with the screams of a thousand hive servants warcry. It was very uncomfortable to say the least. We couldn’t just stand here and gawk, we had things to do. Interrupting my train of thought Zavala then came on over my intercom, “Guardian, the Reef’s troops are now here. The “bomb” will be set off in exactly forty seconds, just enough time for us to teleport you into Oryx’s throne room along with reinforcements. We have well equipped the Awoken along with Variks and his Fallen comrades. Ready yourself.” Time was ticking as everyone pulled out their Touch of Malice. Both Hunters simultaneously took in a deep breath. Twenty seconds had passed now, we were all sweating heavily in our thick armor. There was no real strategy at play here, we were just running in and assaulting the King. Hopefully our numbers would be enough to throw Oryx off guard. After all he had not detected us yet. Five seconds remaining. Eris then came over the intercom and started counting down for us, “Guardians! Five. Four.. Three… Two…. One!! Go and slay that beast once and for all.” Once she was done speaking our headsets cut out completely and faded to static. No more communication from this point on. In the blink of an eye we were at the very top of the Dreadnaught surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of bunched together Awoken and Fallen. Variks, Petra Venj, and even the mighty Queen herself stood in front of the army. In the distance the echoing boom of the bomb detonating deep inside the ship could be discerned below our feet. Now that the superweapon was crippled, we could slay the beast on top and bring our troops back later to secure the vessel. We took in the massive throne room up ahead. Vast arches loomed above us, intricate carvings lining their entirety. Something the likes of this on Earth would’ve taken hundreds of years of nonstop work from a crew of professional artists to finish. It was truly mesmerising. All of us mesmerized in awe up at the ceiling, mouths dropping open and bodies falling still and silent. The room itself seemed to be a huge mastermind architectural display. Everything was detailed down to the very finest point, no stone being left untouched. Engraved spikes were shooting out of the roof and off of the sides of the room. Spiraling towers dotted here and there across the room, serving no apparent purpose other than intimidation. The roof loomed over our heads, large gaps in the side walls pouring in the blackness of space. The whole room was dark and mysterious. Up ahead the Daughters were still high up on their platforms, in a deep sleep conjuring unknown spells. Upon closer investigation the platforms themselves were made out of fine sandy material and deep black marble. Ancient markings covering them from head to toe. At the farthest end of Oryx’s throne room near the edge of the cliff was a white and black sparkling orb with the asteroid field in the backdrop. The six guardians walked forward through the field of soldiers and up to where the Queen and her helpers were. Petra nodded at us as we walked past her and towards the dancing orb at the very back of the room. That was the signal for every Awoken guard to pull out their Sleeper Simulant. Seconds after the cue was given the Fallen troops started to bring out their weapons as well. Dregs were armed with MIDA Multi-Tools, Vandals with Jade Rabbits, and Captains with modified Lord of Wolves. By now our team was halfway across the room, cautiously walking past the two Daughters platforms in the center. To my surprise the floor was greatly detailed as well, withholding deep Hive carvings unknown to any of our databases. The floor was an unbelievably dark shade of black, so smooth that it was almost slick to the touch. This room was absolutely humongous. Like nothing we had ever seen before. The ceiling must have been at least over 100 stories tall and the room itself was probably eight hundred feet in length. Maybe a four hundred or so feet wide from wall to wall. In this special room Oryx was capable of showing his true form, there were no limitations for him here. We were in his realm now and he had full power. The only purpose that this room served for him was to hide and to scheme. No other existing place was capable of housing his enormous form. At this moment we were approaching the hovering orb, the air was thick with anticipation. Our movement slowed as we got within an arm’s reach of it. We took the time to look at each other through our helmets, last regrets were now racing through our heads. Then, interrupting us, Variks spoke loudly from behind us, “Cayde has just transmitted a message for you, with the queen's technology we were able to receive it even in this dark zone. Here is what he said,” “Zavala just gave me the call, do it. I wish you all luck. Come back in one piece.” Well, here we go, no turning back. Our Warlock leader- the same one that had taken the Vex essence from the Vault just a few hours ago- stepped forward and activated the orb. On contact it made a loud screeching noise and disappeared to the depths of space below. We were only three feet from the edge as an ear splitting roar emitted out from underneath us. Collectively we quickly backpedaled away from the cliff, we all knew what was coming now. We then turned around and sprinted back to the middle pillars to meet up with the others. Every single gun in sight was aimed at the sky, just waiting for the threat to show itself. A large bonelike hand came up over the cliff and grabbed one of the closest pillars, half crumbling it in the process. His hand alone was the size of one of our ships. Just as that thought went through my head another hand came up and over the ledge, grabbing the other nearest pillar. Oryx’s head began to rise up out of the abyss below, followed by his massive plated torso. Then with immense strength the Taken King pulled himself up onto the floor of his own throne room. There before us stood a God of Gods, but we stood tall. Oryx fiercely roared at us once again, a sound so deep and menacing that it could make any living creature cower. The only thing that prevented our eardrums from bursting right then was the strong sheet of armor covering us from head to toe. Oryx was much bigger up close than we had expected, while hunched over his head reached almost three quarters way up to the ceiling. He just stood there staring at us hatefully, most likely thinking about how we had murdered his son years ago. Now was the time to act. Oryx opened up his third eye and started to fire upon us. He spread his enormous ragged wings all the way out, reaching towards both sides of the Dreadnaughts base walls. He continued to shoot balls of piercing darkness at us out of his glowing eye. Our brigade split up and tried to dodge the onslaught, but unfortunately countless Dregs were caught and killed in the act. Oryx screamed again and slammed his fist down on the marble floor of the Dreadnaught, cracking it everywhere. Splinters flew out left and right, piercing the fallen’s skin and shattering our armor. Then out of the abyss warped a hive Tombship, coming straight down the middle right toward us. It fired a few explosive Void bursts at us out of its cannon, we tried to leap out of their way but they were advanced hive tracking rounds and seeked out a kill. This time a few more Dregs fell along with a Vandal and Captain or two. This was not looking good for us so far. Then, the hive ship stopped directly in the middle and started to materialize a knight on the ground beneath it. A long beam descended upon the marble floor and spawned a powerful creature. Once the knight fully appeared it was obvious that we wasn’t just a normal knight, he was a major commander with a yellow insignia upon him. He was marked as a Vessel or Oryx, withholding a brand of the initiate. We needed to acquire this aura in order to kill Oryx properly. The hives sorcery could be used against them, for we alone did not hold the strength to conquer Oryx alone. He had been sent down here to distract us, but we would do the exact opposite and make him work in our favor. The Vessel started to move down the aisle towards us, he did not bear any weapon so he just continued to walk into our line of sight. A Titan, brandishing a powerful Raze-Lighter, charged the Vessel and cut him clean in half. He dropped dead on the cold hard floor, shedding his hard skin and dispersed a white bubble like aura. The Titan that had slayed him also picked up the aura and called for everyone to surround him. He told us that as long as we stayed inside the lines of this clear shield we would be safe. Every standing man huddled around the Titan, waiting for his next order. In front of us maybe ten yards out, Oryx was beginning to become impatient. “Get ready soldiers!” The Titan yelled. The King shifted his stance and floated around near the edge of the front of his ship. For a few more moments he shot at us from his eye, noticing that it was doing no good due to the protective aura around us. His eye blasts bounced back off of our shield and destroyed distant structures of the Dreadnaught walls. He was utterly pissed. Oryx’s wings stilled and he roared again, this time more determined. He firmly grasped both pillars, leaned back, and began to open his skeletal chest, within a white and black swirling oval started to show. His chest widened as the power inside grew more and more. The contrast was harsh to the eyes, black being blacker than void and light more blinding than the sun. The darkness inside him began to drain everything around us. “Now!!” Shielding her face the Queen screamed. In unison we all fired into his open chest, obliterating him in seconds. Thousands of lasers and bullets of all kinds streamed above my head towards the king. He screamed in agony as each and every one connected. The dark ball embedded into him began to crack and shatter in several places as his body went limp. The world outside us was exploding with chaos but luckily the protective brand held by the Titan was keeping us from getting harmed. In one last attempt Oryx grabbed onto the side of the Dreadnaught’s main structure and ripped free a gigantic chunk of malicious metal. Determined, he hurled it at us with great strength, but just as expected it hit the bubble surrounding us and vaporized into a million pieces. Shaking our stronghold and disorienting us, we took time to let the dust settle. Oryx’s body slumped further as he screeched one last time and fell down off the side of the Dreadnaught, slamming his massive head onto the edge in the process creating a crater. His monstrous body slid off the cliff and disappeared underneath the Dreadnaught into infinite space. We weren’t convinced that he was dead quite yet, the king would not go out without more of a fight. We waited, counting off the seconds in our heads shaking from anticipation. Blood rushed through our veins, eager to end our greatest enemy. Then, suddenly from the far end of the room where Oryx had originally appeared, came a low raspy gurgling sound. This time instead of coming up one hand at a time the king simply flew up out of the abyss beneath him. His full spread wings were now ragged and torn, pieces of grotesque skin and bone shredding off with every movement he made. There was a visible crack on his head, going from his chin up to his right eye. Cosmic darkness spilled out from his mind, corrupting the air around us. I yelled to the others, “Be ready for whatever he throws at us! Now we’ve made him real mad.” Just as I said that Oryx seemed to look over directly at me and gave off a twisted grin. He half laughed, and half roared as he leaned back whilst using his wings for support and threw out his claw-like hands in front of him. A dark mist was starting to come out of both palms, drifting towards the ground in front of him. “He’s conjuring a shade!” Someone yelled. At that very moment a black tinted dome was thrown out of Oryx’s hands onto the ground. The dome swallowed everything beneath it and sucked in our awoken allies. “No!” the Hunter screamed. Oryx drew his hands farther apart with great effort and shortly after the dome expanded a few more feet. By now the dome was thirty feet tall and fifty feet in width. Energy bursted out of the dome, rupturing our barrier and pulling us toward it. My body started to tingle and my armor wisped away into another dimension. The last thing that I saw before I was teleported inside was the other Warlock pointing right at me with a look of awe on his face. Distorted black and white lights flashed around me and a zapping noise snapped me back to reality out of nowhere as my body returned. The dreadnaught disappeared behind our backs hopefully not for the last time. My feet made contact with the ground but this time it was different. I was somewhere else. The plane that I was currently standing on was in the form of a circle. I spun a three-sixty, trying to take in the new scenery. Everywhere outside of the circle was a deep foggy white with a never ending ceiling. The ground itself was a weird mixture of glowing black and white milky rock. I had only been inside this new strange place for fifteen seconds when a monstrous blood curdling scream came from behind me. I quickly turned to see something that looked similar to an Echo of Oryx we had encountered before. It’s completely black skin was outlined with glowing white eyes that piercing the mist. Except amplified by the kings might this time it was much bigger and more menacing. It was floating with a long jagged hive sword in its hand, staring into my soul with vicious eyes and a watering mouth from across the circular room. I began to fire at its head with my sniper rifle, not nearly hurting it enough to actually do anything. It laughed at the attempt and sharpened its blade with its jagged claws. Another guardian got teleported in beside me a moment later. As she came to her senses I stuck out a hand at the Shade of Oryx and we both exchanged a quick nod before continuing to shoot at it. Its origin was hard to discern but one thing I did know was that it was beyond ugly. The Titan who had came in a couple seconds ago was now shooting at the Shade with his sniper as well. The Shade was feeling it now, it staggered a bit and grunted in annoyance as it flew at us. The shade struck down with skull crushing force, shaking the ground and causing us to stumble. The creature then teleported with a seconds notice and reappeared somewhere else in the fog. Our team spun around back to back trying to get a trace on the shade. Out of the silence Oryx’s Echo blasted several eye beams at us through the outside wall of smoke. Disoriented, we tried to dodge it while tracking the shade. The rest of us rolled left and right while a warlock in our group held his stance and tracked Oryx, clipping him in the head and forcing it out of the shadows. It screamed again and reappeared in the circle with us. The Echos floating form trailed us intimidatingly as he sought its target. The air vaporized around us again as the shade zapped to another position. Playing tricks with our minds, he spun around us in circles. A laugh seemingly emanated from the depths of the smoke again as we trained our attention back on an area of the cascading fog. Before we knew it he teleported back behind us and roared. It was too late, the Titan spun around just in time to see the shade arcing it’s arms downward with the long sword. It’s huge blade impaled my friend, spiking him into the ground. The shade relished this moment, throwing its head back in exhilaration. Wiping the tears from my eye I threw a grenade and stuck it right to Oryx. It squirmed as the explosion set it on fire. It grumbled and pulled the sword from my friends body, ripping up chunks of the ground and painting the white floor. His lifeless body fell beneath the shades feet as he floated over him. Enraged, my remaining fireteam cautiously assaulted the monster, flinching his head as it swiped with its sword. His body was dissipating now bit by bit, but Oryx’s clone relentlessly dragged forward with bloodthirsty eyes. We kept firing at it until another guardian was sent it. It was a Hunter thank god, we told him what to do and he complied. He shot at the Shade twice with his shotgun and then pulled out his primary and bursted off some quick shots in its direction. None of the shots hit but that wasn’t the point. The Hunter was getting his attention so that he could tether him in place for the rest of us to finish him off. The Shade shifted its deathly gaze over to the Hunter and came in for a slam. He screamed at the hunter and raised his sword, flying at him at great speeds. It envisioned another easy kill, but we wouldn’t fall for that. Just as the Shade was preparing to come down on him with his sword the Hunter brought out his bow and fired off a single void shot right into his throat. The Shade halted in place as purple strings tied him to the ground. The creature struggled, furiously grasping at the tethers. In my peripheral vision I saw the rest of our team get transferred in. As a group we rained fire upon the trapped creature, killing it with ease. Its dying screams filling our ears as we were all sent back out of the Shade realm. The overwhelming black and white light left our vision and returned to the dull colors of the dreadnaught throne room. The heavy thud of our 5 remaining guardians feet hitting the hard ground was the only noticeable sound throughout the room. Everything was still, my team gasped to regain their composure. We were back in Oryx’s room, in the middle of the large room stood Variks, Petra, The Queen, and the rest of their army waiting for us. We regrouped with them and caught our bearings. No sign of Oryx or any other enemy so far. We stood there patiently in the silence, anticipating something to happen soon. We still had about seven hundred men in total alive with us in the middle. Suddenly, the trance was broken as action begun again. It started off at first as a small trickling noise but then grew. We were all looking around left and right questioningly. The two plates in the back of the Daughters larger pillars were gushing around the bases with black liquid. I jogged to the front to see the same thing happening with the other two plates. All four plates were overflowing with black watery goo. We were watching them very closely now. The squelching liquid seemed to calm down for a moment right before a white and red ogre intently climbed up out of the puddle. It’s mangled face emerged from the flood, blackness pouring around its huge body. Every plate had an ogre coming from it. All four of them were briskly walking towards the center where we were. They fired their laser beam eyes at us but the last Titan popped his bubble and saved us. Four lines of concentrated energy were shooting at us from every angle, testing the might of his shield. These ogres were not like the others that we had encountered. They were slightly bigger and had a fully white body with a blood red face. They moved with erratic rage, staggering forward quickly. Still, that would not stop us from slaughtering them. One by one their tankish bodies fell to the cold, rough ground. In their dying essence they left behind a black ball. A blight. There were four of them surrounding us, one to the North, South, East, and West. A Hunter from a higher order spoke softly at us from the back of the group, “When Oryx shows himself I need four of you guardians to go and detonate those blights. The one remaining guardian will stay behind in the bubble and continuously shoot at Oryx’s chest. This will draw his attention off of you and give you just enough time to explode the blights and get back here.” We all agreed to the plan but were no less weary. It was risky. ...the echo of a quiet breath was being projected from the front of the room. Oryx stood there watching us, without a movement. His enormous form towering above us, obvious rage building up inside him. His breathing got louder and faster as his un-lifelike brow came together in an angry arch over his three eyes. He was already badly damaged but that wouldn’t do anything to stop him from taking revenge for his dead son. He laughed at us as if to say that he wouldn’t end up like that this time. Before anyone could take a call to action, the enormous hive god drew its tattered wings back and gusted them forward towards our group. A wall of wind collided with our bubble, pushing it backwards and shedding off hive architecture beside us. This great movement took the king a while to recover from, as he returned to hovering still. “Now” The Hunter who had instructed us earlier whispered. A Titan, a Hunter, and two Warlocks slowly made their way to the outer corners of the bubble. Oryx didn’t seem to notice or think anything of it at the time because he then slammed his hands together and opened his chest again. His bony interlocking ribs drew back to reveal his black heart. The object inside him was still giving off a glow but not nearly as intense as before. There were hundreds of cracks covering the oval of light beating within his chest. It widened as his power increased, with this act he brought his hands farther and farther apart, somehow making his chest shine brighter. Wisps of darkness were pouring out of the many cracks, ruining the air. I stayed inside and started firing my Touch of Malice into Oryx’s growing torso. The four guardians ran for the ogre blights, jumping inside their bulk and activating them. Once activated they began to ascend, strands of the blight breaking off and orbiting the balls of pure blackness. They were going up into the sky! They had accomplished their job, all four of them were traveling up, up, and away. They projected a squealing noise and then vanished. The four brave guardians ran back to the bubble resting in the middle. The Warlock was a little off course and had to dive into the aura headfirst in order to make it in time. He landed inside the bubble on his stomach just as the blights outside detonated, nearly cutting off his legs. It sounded like we were standing right next to an airplane jet that was taking off at max speed. Earthquake shakes surrounded our protective little bubble, slabs of the ground coming loose and flying up above us. Gravity distorted as the Daughters towers broke apart above our heads. But over all the apparent noise at the time Oryx’s deathly screams were the loudest. We turned back to see him writhing and flailing around. The light in his eyes went blank as he sunk to his knees, splitting the ground as he fell. He was mere inches away from the hundred thousand foot cliff drop. He menacingly glared at us from a defeated stance, both eyes twitching as dark black blood poured from them across the marble. The only sounds coming from his wretched mouth mouth were those of utter pain. Even on his knees the hundred foot hunched giant still looked like the scariest thing we had ever seen. From his throat came a sound that could only be categorized as the tearing of the flesh. Broken bone and more black tinted blood came spewing out onto the floor. His sharp talons dug deep into the floor, scratching out his pain. He coughed a few more times before slowly getting back up one knee at a time. As we watched his body shook the crumbling ground with efforts to get back up. With the small bit of power he had left he materialized a thick silver ancient looking sword into his left hand. It materialized and dropped into his grasp, looming with hundreds of feet in length. His muscles gave and it crashed to the floor, splitting his throne further. With obvious exhaustion he tried to hold it up right- the thing must have weighed thousands of tons- and shifted it around in his hands. He turned it from side to side examining it. Then, he spoke with a wise torn voice so deep that it could’ve pierced the void itself, “This hive sword was given to me many millennia ago by my prestigious father. He paved the road for me to dominate this system of yours. Crota was supposed to one day receive this sword from me….but you killed him before I could get the chance.” He grasped it harder as he spoke, nails clanging. “You invaded his kingdom and took his throne from him. Do you really think that I’m going to let the same thing happen to me?” He spat. “Have you ever wanted revenge before, guardian?” He said glowering down at us once again. He chuckled to himself before turning the sword over and ripping out some kind of dull object from inside with his last might. He let the sword clatter to the ground and spin off into the distance from him as he clutched the mysterious object in his claw. He held it up close to his face, letting the light reflect off of it, illuminating his broken teeth. Without hesitation he quickly brought it down to his shattered chest and shoved it inside his destroyed rib cage. His beaten heart absorbed this object and shot beams of light throughout the rest of him. His posture stiffened and he sighed in relief as it coursed through his being. “Taken energy in its finest source.” He said. Replying to his own remark he added, “The same element that I crafted with my very hands and built an everlasting army upon.” I thought to myself, hence his name, The Taken King. Without a further word he stretched his wings and dispersed backwards into the abyss with renewed strength. Seconds later he flew back up on another side of the dreadnaught wall with wings spread full length and his hands out in front of him. Looming over the edge of his ship, grinning at us. We all knew what was coming now. This was all a game to him. At this stage he didn’t even seem to value his own life as much as he should, he was just hungry for payback. Now to our left, he outreached a claw at our brigade as a trail of energy flowed out into one of the Reef’s Captains. Oryx lifted the Captain up into the air, slowly corrupting him. Black and white light surged into his skin, stealing his will. Oryx dropped the captain back down beside our group and commanded it to kill. Stunned, our team stares in awe. The now taken Captain charged our leader, throwing darkness at him. Variks stepped forward and stabbed the Captain in the head, dropping him between our feet. The reef fallen stepped aside, cowering. Oryx flung his hand out again, stealing more troops from us, his army began to multiply as we cut them down. The Warlock leader threw a nova bomb and decimated a group of taken. Drifting back down he unsheathes his sword and slices through another cluster. Oryx snarled at us dismissing his minions as he raised his hand into the air, creating a spike from beneath us, the tip rupturing the floor. Our team diverged as the tall white dagger shot out of our previous position, forming a hole in the roof and transcending beyond. Reacting quickly, a sleeper shot from my fireteam bounced around inside the king’s chest, stunning him. The fallen regrouped and gazed hatefully at Oryx. He then drew his hands as far apart as possible and started to open his chest again. This time the color emanating from inside was a renewed gloomy evil green, swirling in a circle. His third eye split and decimated the towers beside us with a continuous stream. He continued to grow and fire at us, building strength. We began firing at him, hoping that it would do something. This time he was taking the hits much more efficiently, barely flinching. The circle of green darkness in his chest started to revolve faster. With this action his chest also widened more and more. Skin started to rip as his torso expanded tremendously. We continued to fire urgently, not understanding what was going on. Why wasn’t he going down? Like it was the simplest act he moved his hands closer to each other, doing something to greaten his power even more. The green aura within him surged once more, shooting dark bolts throughout his body. The air around us and inside the shield was becoming thinner, making it difficult to breathe. The Queen emerged from the crowd of soldiers, walking prominently. She made her way to the very front of the ship. “Keep firing!” She screamed with authority over the madness. Mara Sovs form shrunk in the distance as she approached the expansive front of the ship. Her pale blue forehead glowed brightly as she put her fists together in a meditating form. She seemed to be concentrating very intensely to herself as she conjured some kind of unknown Awoken spell from deep within. In her palms there was a light which began to grow, multiplying into more mini lights. I tried to take my attention off of her as she did her thing. I kept firing at Oryx with the rest of the group. The kings head started to twitch with frustration as he tried his hardest to continue sucking the light from us. As the end nears, Oryx glances quickly left and right at his Daughters on their platforms, calling to them and drawing their strength. I felt it now, my bones and muscles weakening. Turning my head away from Oryx I took a glance at the others and saw the same thing but worse. They were slowly crumbling under the pressure. Every particle of air becoming toxic with sickening darkness. Oryx was stealing our light, pulling it straight out of us. Everything in my vision was now shifting to green. Parts of the roof exploded with constriction, raining upon everyone. I looked back up at Oryx who was still floating near the edge of the front of the ship. The Queen was still there in the front too except for now the orbs of light in her hand were vast and radiant. She had to bring out both hands to keep them from overflowing. There were maybe about twenty in total now and growing by the minute. The light was so intense even under my visor that I almost had to cover my eyes. Her forehead was glowing bright blue. She was squinting harshly from her own exertion of force ; her knees trembling. Oryx stopped for a moment to look down at her and maybe it was just me but honestly he looked terrified. He worriedly doubletakes his Daughters again, tying them together and motivating himself to conjure more. He sped up his efforts and brought his clawed hands even closer together, almost letting them touch each other. To this day we still do not fully understand the magic of hive god sorcery but what I do know is that whatever he had just done had called upon the might of his ancestors to make his potential inside swell. It felt like our very souls were being drained. At this point we were all panicking, the only thing that we could do was to keep shooting at him. “Hurry! Do something!” One of the Hunters yelled just as the Queen released her building flurry of shining orbs right into Oryx’s chest. Conjuring everything in her might, Mara depletes herself. She collapsed completely onto the ground and blacked out from exertion. Ahead of us lay her drained body alone but more importantly the king. He was in anguish. It was over. Every last bomb of light that the Queen had thrown at him had connected directly. All men were given the order to cease fire. The Queens loyalists worriedly retrieved her body. Oryx stopped cold in his tracks, the life disappearing from his eyes entirely. His heart shattered, the contrast of light and dark warping into a black hole on itself and exploding, showering us with dark crystals. The hive god let out a final screech as his throat collapsed harmonizing with his daughters as they fell too, booming the deafening cry of a families demise throughout the entirety of his ship. An enormous hole blew straight through his expanded chest, shredding every inch of close skin in sight and splintering bone everywhere. Hive particles flew backwards into space, revealing an empty heart and the backdrop of Saturn’s rings. All of his chest and hips cracked right in half, leaving only his head which exploded from some unseen force moments later. His long wings vaporized and a sheet of brittle brownish red dust drifted majestically down towards us. One last explosion rocked what was left of his body, snapping marrow and cartilage, flinging him back off the cliff into the cosmos. Long live the king no more. Instantly our breathing was restored back to normal along with our vision. We fell to our knees and took in the sight as our muscles unclenched. The platforms to our left and right that once held the deathsinging daughters captive had now crumbled into nothing, making the room seem much larger. Mass amounts of cheering and celebration was heard below from the people as in the distance Oryx’s corpse silently floated off into the farthest reaches of space. Soon enough his lifeless crippled body would enter Saturn’s outer atmosphere and rain down in a dense meteor shower. Everyone else was clapping and laughing but I was still watching Oryx peacefully drift off. In reality I knew for a fact that it was just my imagination but for one brief second we seemed to lock eyes. His dead stare meeting my emotionless expression, saying a final goodbye. I looked away, knowing that his paralyzed form would continue to fly away ever so slowly until he eventually collided with a planet and became food for another alien life form. In a mesmerizing way he spun eternally, head coming first and then after some time his tail would spin up, over, and around until he repeated the same cycle again. Beautifully, gravity carried him off to his final resting place. We would definitely have search teams come and retrieve his body once it landed but for now we just took in the majestic silence. The Dreadnaught was ours now. No one was left to rule here, no one to take Oryx’s place on the throne. The hive had no leader left to guide them and their chain of sword logic was ruined. The eerie quietness had just begun to get to me when the dead kings horned head came back into my sight from afar. He first appeared in my peripheral vision and then somehow grabbed my full attention. It was like he was psychically calling to me. I shook off the creepy vibe and laughed to myself under my breath, trying to reassure that everything was alright. I maintained my stare, keeping my eyes locked on his dead ones. And you know what? For a second he actually seemed to smirk back at me from miles away. We had won, but somehow I dreaded the consequences of our actions. We looted the ship and took one last glance at the Taken King still rotating miles out. Everyone returned home to their anxious families. That very day would be spoken of for millennia throughout the tower, and ingrained in our minds for eternity.
