[i]Chapter 24, The Glass Throne Part 3[/i] Guardian greeted us with a casual wave as we rejoined our own time, the remains of Supplicants around his feet and Drew’s, who stood a little further off. Once more I felt definition and power course through my body, and I realized now that it was because our return was allowing time and space themselves to fight back against Atheon’s meddling. “Behind me!” I warned everyone, summoning a barrier of Light from the Aegis as Atheon lowered its arm and turned its cannon on us. Gunfire broke out from both sides: Atheon’s heavy blasts pounding on the wall of energy I held before us, and the barrage of bullets and other projectiles from my raid team. A rocket from Sierra made Atheon flinch, and then she raised her empty right hand and summoned her Golden Gun in a burst of fire. As she began unloading shining rounds into Atheon, Hunter summoned his own Golden Gun and Warlock launched a Nova Bomb. Atheon screeched as orange and violet flames wreathed its body, but did not let up despite its charred chassis. It was when a second Nova Bomb sailed over me from Warlock’s hand that I realized Sierra and Hunter hadn’t stopped shooting their Golden Guns even after three bullets. My Light felt stronger, and the air surrounding me seemed thick with the Traveler’s blessing. The converging timelines in the Vault were warping to give us their shared Light to combat the Darkness that Atheon had called to suppress us. But I felt the energy starting to fade. Recalling how Guardian had used the Aegis against the Templar, I began pooling Light into the heart of the Aegis. “The Aegis is about to disappear!” I warned everyone over the roar of battle, “Everyone needs to move!” After firing a few last times, everyone began to filter out. Sierra and Hunter were two of the first, and kept their Golden Guns sustained even while on the move so they could continue damaging Atheon until he was invulnerable again. Soon I was alone behind the protection of the Aegis, but Atheon’s emotionless, all-seeing eye remained on me and the Relic in my hands. Just as I felt reality start to lose its freedom from Atheon’s hold, I let the barrier fall and braced my free hand against the shield, willing the focused Light out. A brilliant white orb of energy burst out of the Aegis, arcing through the air and smashing into the Vex lord. The Aegis faded from my arm as Atheon stumbled backwards, but it recovered quickly and turned its single white eye back on me. I swore it looked angry. Leveling its cannon at me, Atheon released five quick shots instead of three slower ones. With the fury of Time’s Conflux on my heels, I ran and leapt to cover. “Heha!” Hunter guffawed after I had settled down behind a metal column with Atheon’s barrages pounding against it, “You’ve got guts, Will!” “Yeah man!” Drew cheered, “You f-“ I couldn’t make out his words over the crashing of energy blasts against the metal behind my head, “-out of him!” “Okay, so furthest people get teleported, right?” Sierra questioned. “Aw hell no, I’ll stay here thank you very much,” Hunter remarked. Just then, I heard Atheon stop firing so it could focus on using its power. “Better hurry,” Sierra chimed. “Hey! Get back here!” Hunter called, and I looked out from cover to see the two running closer to Atheon, which was probably perfectly safe considering its current immobile state. My vision blurred for a moment, and I found myself standing beneath the triangular frame within the future version of the Vault. The unsettled feeling of time trying to weed me out lasted only a moment before the restoring orb of the Aegis formed. Guardian stood next to me with the Aegis in hand, and on his other side… “SHANKS!” Hunter raged, kicking at the sand that coated the platforms in this reality. “We’re in the future,” Guardian’s Ghost stated so those still with Atheon would know which Sync Plate to go to. Looking down from our vantage point, I saw three Precursor Hobgoblins, their pearly white armor and blue eyes standing out amongst the barren brown of the arena. A red trail from one of their Line Rifles zipped by where my head had been as I backed up and looked to the others. “Guardian gets Vex and we get Oracles?” I checked, and received nods from both. The first Oracle’s toll sounded and I looked to where it appeared above the staircase, raising my scout rifle. Within a couple of minutes we had worked our way across the platform to the inactive Gate frame, destroying the three Hobgoblins and seven red Oracles on the way. Then came time to return through the Gate. “Go!” Sierra was pushing me away from the portal before the white light had even faded from my vision. As I stumbled into a run with Sierra guiding me, I saw Guardian leaping through the air with Atheon’s energy blasts humming by just barely behind him. Drew was sitting with his back against cover, the scorches on the left side of his helmet and his left arm visible as he reloaded a machine gun. Hunter was slouched further down against the same wall of metal, an arm covering his blood-soaked ribs as he peaked out at Atheon. Warlock was running out in the open, trying to get Atheon’s attention away from Guardian. Shouts from all of them rang in my ears as they coordinated against the giant Vex. “He started attacking as soon as Guardian was through. We were too bunched up,” Sierra explained as we ducked behind a low metal block that rose from the ground. Passing through the portal must have kept me from hearing the commotion start up in the few moments it had taken me to enter and exit. “And now we can’t regroup behind the Aegis,” I deduced, “Everyone! I’ll buy you a couple seconds. Meet on the central platform.” Several confirmations answered me on the comms, and as soon as I was sure they were ready and Atheon wasn’t watching me, I vaulted over our cover. I went straight for where the Vex Mind stood at the bottom of the staircase in front of the triangular wall of glass. As hoped, Atheon took notice of me as I glided through the air mere meters away from its head, unloading Little Blue into it. An angry Vex roar followed me as I landed on the steps of the Glass Throne, an orb of violet Light swirling into life in my right hand. Before I could unleash it, a quintet of projectiles flew out at me from Atheon’s cannon. Springing upwards in a Light-propelled backflip that landed me higher up the steps, I took only a moment to aim before jumping high into the air and lobbing my Nova Bomb down at Atheon. Time’s Conflux took a bracing step backwards from the impact of my attack as I landed a short distance in front of its feet. Through its legs I saw the others gathered behind the Guardian and the Aegis, holding their fire so I could make it to them without getting shot on accident. But Atheon was already recovering, and I couldn’t even try getting around after cornering myself so efficiently. As Atheon’s cannon found its way back to me, I felt the thick presence of Light in the space around me restoring my energy and brought my arms up in an “x” in front of my chest, ready to create a Ward of Dawn and stand against the Vex lord of time as long as I could while my allies brought it down from behind. The barrel of Atheon’s cannon began to glow with heat, and Void Light snaked its way down my arms. But a bright flash backlit Atheon, accompanied by an explosion that made Atheon rock forward unsteadily. Through its legs I could see Guardian lowering the Aegis and waving me over. “Come on Will!” Drew shouted, but I was already running. Atheon had regained its footing and begun taking aim, which meant going between its legs wasn’t an option. So I jumped. Energy blasts hummed under my feet as I ascended towards Atheon’s chest, hitting the ground below and behind me. Just before I crashed into the giant machine, I Blinked. Guardian raised the Aegis as soon as I materialized and landed in a crouch amongst my comrades, and everyone’s weapons and Light burst to life around me. Mustering all the energy I had within me at that moment, I spun back around to Atheon and threw the biggest Nova Bomb I could at it. A wave of metal and Light from six Guardians crashed into Time’s Conflux, making it stumble backwards on legs that had never known a force strong enough to push them back. But still Atheon did not fall, and began firing back as it dug its heels in and took a powerful step forward through the melting heat of Golden Gun rounds, the smoke of erupting rockets, and the consuming maws of Nova Bombs. My Light and physical energy replenished almost as quickly as it was used, but no matter how much we threw at it, no matter how warped and scorched and broken the Vex lord’s chassis became, it still didn’t stop it from taking another step forward. And then another. And another. Then, space itself seeming to bend to make way for its slender fingers, Atheon raised its hand above its head. All the light and shadow in the great cavern bent towards Time’s Conflux, forming a glowing point above its open palm that sent whispers of infinity and nothingness through the air. Ch24 Pt2: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/252637013/0/0 Ch24 Pt4: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/252637100/0/0 ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0