Destiny 2: Frozen In Time

Chapter 24: The City's Last Hope

The people of the last city reemerge to see that the House of Salvation has been repelled thanks to the efforts of the equine guardians, but they also see that Zavala and Ikora have been permanently killed by the fallen guardian known as Taiki-9. The trio in question find themselves looking down in solemn, cursing the fact they couldn't save the vanguard, cursing Taiki and his treachery, down on one knee.

"I... I don't believe it..." Shaxx says in horror as he sees Zavala's corpse and his dead ghost not too far from it.

"Never... In ANY of my forty four resets... Have I seen something like THIS..." Banshee says as he emerges from his gunsmith station, having gone into hiding when the remnants of House Salvation attacked. "First Cayde... Now Ikora and Zavala..."

"The whole vanguard... Squashed like a cockroach..." Drifter mumbles. "Are we too late?"

"Has the city fallen yet again?" Shaxx mutters to himself in disbelief. The equine trio have not said a word since Taiki vanished and told them to go to the Cosmodrome if they wanted to find him, and Drifter looks with worry.

"Who... Who's going to be the next vanguard now?" Drifter asks. "We don't even have any hunters... And I'm not exactly the best candidate either..." The remains of the city have gone silent as they wait for someone- anyone to speak up and guide them. It's then that Suzuka punches the ground in defiance and she stands up, all attention brought to her.

"He really thinks he can do this and just waltz away without us doing anything?" Suzuka asks. "Taiki, you REALLY think we're going to keel over just because we lost our vanguard?"

"Suzuka?" Shaxx asks.

"I've had enough of him." Suzuka mumbles. "I'm tired of him stomping us down. If he wants war... Well we're going to give him war!" Hearing that come out of Suzuka's mouth makes the crucible handler perk up and Spe-7 and Gold also stand tall as well. "The vanguard is not just a group of people! It is the representation of how far we've come! It is a beacon of our hope! Just because the people representing the vanguard have been killed, doesn't mean that the vanguard is gone! It will continue to live on!"

"But who's going to step up?" Drifter asks. Everyone is on pins and needles for the anticipation, but when Suzuka breaks the silence, everyone finds hope.

"If nobody is willing to step up, then we will." Suzuka replies. "We've worked with the vanguard long enough to know it's workings, especially me and Spe."

"People of the last city!" Spe-7 calls out. "Your new vanguard has arrived! We will carry the beacon of hope that those before us have always carried before, and we will forever stand proud!" People start cheering as Spe-7 rallies everyone.

"And we will promise this!" Gold shouts. "The man responsible for this attack! The man that tried to extinguish the vanguard just now! We will avenge the vanguard, and we will put him in the ground!"

"I stand with these three!" Shaxx calls out as he stands by the trio. "I've seen them slay gods, I've seen them avenge our hunter vanguard, Cayde-6! If they can do that, they can do it again, and avenge Zavala and Ikora!" And with that the three bring out their heavy weapons and raise them up in the air in defiance of Taiki's threats and in unison of the new vanguard. The people cheer again and Spe-7 looks to Suzuka.

"Should we go to the Cosmodrome?" Spe-7 asks. "It's about time we dealt with Taiki once and for all."

"Let's." Suzuka replies. "Gold stated a promise, one that we can all achieve and uphold. Let's go put Taiki to rest, to end this madness once and for all."

"I only wish you three the best of luck." Shaxx says as the trio calls for their jumpships. As they head off to the cosmodrome the people of the last city return to normal commotion, and the trio talks amongst themselves.

"Are you sure we can do this?" Spe-7 asks as the trio closes in on their location.

"We sure can." Suzuka replies. "We've been with Taiki well before he fell to the darkness so we've picked up his experiences. We've slayed gods, we've saved the city without our light, we've even taken on all of our worst nightmares. This won't be any different."

"All that I know, is that this is going to be our toughest fight yet." Gold says. "But we won't back down. We made a promise, so we better live up to it." And with that they touch down in the cosmodrome. With no sign of the fallen exo anywhere near the steppes they decide to backtrack, heading back to the divide. It's then that the trail starts showing up as they see the bodies of Fallen and Hive. Following more of the dead bodies they backtrack further and further until finally they find themselves standing in the area where Spe-7 and Suzuka first became guardians, and standing before them was none other than Taiki himself.

"So, you've come to face us." Ghost says. "This place was where you were first made a guardian... How ironic that it will become your deathbed when we're done with you."

"No... This place will become your grave when we're done with you." Suzuka snaps back as she pulls out Thorn. "Let's finish this, once and for all."