[b][u]An Empire to a God[/u][/b] Yuri entered the vanguard hall. The vanguard and the rest of Yuri’s fireteam were all present. The sword sat ominously on the table. Yuri: So what’s up? Iris: The sword is pulsing with energy. Ikora: It called for you three. Iris: It probably wants to tell us something. Now that Yuri is here, mind if I poke it? Zavala: By all means. Iris closed her eyes and focused on the sword. Ikora watched it carefully. After a moment, the sword started glowing. The glow was faint, but not unnoticeable. Iris opened her eyes. She seemed a bit shocked. Iris: It’s giving us a warning. Ikora: What kind of warning? Iris picked up one of Zavala’s tablets and pulled up warsat feeds. Zavala: What was the warning, Iris? Iris: It said something about a coming legion. Then it asked me, “What is an empire to a god?” Yuri: “What is a god to a nonbeliever?” That’s pre-golden age philosophy there. This thing been reading books while we were away? Iris flipped through a few feeds before coming across something startling. Iris: Traveler’s light. Ikora: What is it? Iris displayed an image over the table. Off in the dark distance, a titanic cabal fleet was approaching. Zavala: What the hell is that? Cayde-6: Cabal, but I’ve never seen those markings before. Ikora: They must be reinforcements from the cabal empire. Zavala: The signal. For a moment, the room was silent. Zavala turned on the table comm. Zavala: Guardians, I’m calling everyone back to the tower immediately. Gather in the tower and standby for new instructions. Zavala changed the comm channel. Zavala: Shaxx, Cancel your games immediately and come to the hall quickly. Zavala shut off the table comm. Shaxx entered the room with haste. He looked up to see the fleet on the screen. Shaxx: Tell me this is one of Cayde’s jokes. Cayde-6: I’d be rolling around on the floor by now if this was me. Zavala: The cabal empire has sent a whole armada. We don’t have the awoken to defend us this time around. Cayde-6: So, game plan, what is it? The room went quiet. Zavala looked down blankly at the table. Cayde-6: Oooh, no. Don’t tell me it’s that bad. Zavala: This fleet is very large. This is at least triple the size of the combined cabal forces that are already here. They have us beaten out by sheer numbers. Cayde-6: Don’t forget, we can come back as zombies as many times as we need, Zavala. Did you figure that into your number count? Shaxx: Our ships aren’t like us. Our fleet isn’t even half that size. One of those cruisers could very likely take down ten or more of our crafts. Cayde-6: Well, the titans sure are fun today. Taravax, care to be the odd one out? Shaxx: This isn’t a game Cayde! This is a very real threat. Taravax-7: All due respect, lord Shaxx. If we go into this fight thinking that we’re sure to lose, that will be the only outcome. Yes, they have us outnumbered and outgunned. Now what can we do to even out those odds? Ikora: Knowing the cabal, there will be a leader somewhere in that fleet. All we must do is find him, and kill him. Even if there a few other lower ranking leaders, it will cause some disarray. Zavala: Yes. But how do we find the leader? Taravax-7: The cabal are like a book. Everything they are and do is pretty straightforward. Everything is done in a typical military manner. The head will be in the flagship, likely on the bridge. One stealth ship with a heavy payload could even out the odds in an instant. Iris: Guys, I don’t want to make you worry more, but there’s a heavy surge of darkness coming off Mars. Ikora: I was afraid I felt something. But it didn’t feel like hive magic. Zavala: We don’t have the people to handle all this. Taravax, your team has went up against impossible odds before. You’re probably one of the best teams in this tower. Do you think you could go investigate the surge of darkness while we put together the assault? Taravax-7 looked to both Yuri and Iris. They both nodded to Taravax-7. Taravax-7: We’ll be as quick as possible. Don’t be afraid to call us back. Above all else, make sure our defence is unbreakable. If the city falls, everything is as good as gone. Zavala nodded. Spitfire ran to the hanger and took off. As their ships left, the cabal fleet got within range of the warsat. A missile flew at the camera before the feed was killed. Zavala: God speed, Spitfire. God speed. Fireteam Spitfire broke orbit and made a jump to Mars. While they were in transit, Yuri received an odd message. He buzzed Taravax-7 and Iris on the comms. Yuri: Anyone else getting a broadcast from Rasputin? //Iris My feed’s clear. //Taravax-7: Mine too. Yuri: Ghost, run that through a translation. Ghost: I’m not sure what he’s talking about. It says, “The black fire has returned. The end of all things is here.” //Taravax-7: Is he talking about the darkness surge? Spitfire came out of the warp and right in front of them was a massive being. It’s shape was lucid, almost like a fire. It was a distinct pitch black, darker than even the space between the stars. The one part of it that wasn’t as fluid was what appeared to be its head. As Spitfire slowed their ships to a stop, the being turned to them. Then it started moving toward them. Yuri: We do not have time for this. Yuri put on a celestial nighthawk before pressurizing his suit and transmating to the top of his ship. He lit up a golden gun and fired into the being. It recoiled, but then the empty vacuum of space began to violently vibrate. The creature spoke. Wrath of shapes: [b][i]You dare harm the Wrath of Shapes! I will tear your screaming souls from your bodies and lock them in the void for eternity![/i][/b] The Wrath of shapes fired three black flames at Yuri, Iris, and Taravax-7. The flames phased through the glass of the ships and hit all three guardians right in the chest. The flame burned for only a moment before it dissipated. The void vibrated again. Wrath of shapes: [b][i]What is this? What has the traveler done? Beings imbued with light. A secret only my queen should know.[/i][/b] Yuri got back in his ship. The being looked off in the distance. Almost as though it was looking for a world. It found it’s target and growled. Wrath of Shapes: [b][i]So the light has learned from her. It calls an army to defend itself. So much light. Too much light. This is not a fight I can win alone.[/i][/b] The being looked outward. It appeared to be scanning for something out in the void of space. After a moment, the being chuckled. Wrath of Shapes: [b][i]There. They will suffice.[/i][/b] The being moved with incredible speed toward the outer system. Spitfire kept on its tail. Iris: Where is it going? Yuri: It spotted Earth from Mars. It could be looking at a whole different solar system for all we know. Taravax-7: No. It’s after something close. I’m afraid I know exactly what it is. Spitfire followed the being as it raced past Jupiter and Saturn. Not too far out of Saturn’s orbit, the being’s target was clear. The cabal fleet was visible. Taravax-7: I knew it. Iris, Yuri, blast that thing to bits. I’m not sure what it wants with the cabal, but letting it reach them can only be bad. Yuri: About time! Yuri unleashed a torrent of fire on the creature. The bolts had little to no effect. They hit the creature then immediately dissipated. Yuri: Huh, well that’s no good. Iris: I think it can only be hurt by light. We need to fight it head on. Taravax-7: It’s not going to fight us head on until it gets to the cabal. Within just a few short moments, the being slowed in front of the cabal fleet. The cabal cruisers tried to blast the creature away with a volley of rockets, but to no avail. The rockets seemed to vanish within the creature’s flame. It stopped and fired thousands of black flames into each ship. The cabal fleet came to a dead stop. 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