Destiny: Volume 1 (Completed)

Chapter Fifteen

"The wind wiped away our footprints. When the storm had passed, we found something shining beneath the sand..." (Grimoire: Mars)

          After that emotional journey back home I went to the Vanguard. It was time to speak my mind. Once I go to their meeting table I stood there. All was silent and Zavala walked over to me. I could tell he was angry and not pleased with what had been going on over the past few days. "Guardian. You better have an excellent and outstanding reason as to why you have been disobeying orders and protocols. Leaving the Tower to explore other planets, unorthodox and non-clearanced missions, visiting the Reef without authorization, you could have been killed!" He said to me. Ikora ans Cayde just stood at the table waiting for Zavala to finish so they could have a turn but I was going to speak this time. "What do you have to say for yourself Guardian?" He said. I smiled. "I know how to stop the Darkness." I said. Ikora looked confused and Cayde sighed and went back to his papers. I walked past Zavala and Alex floated over the table. "Alex and I have made more progress than any of you all have since I've been here. I've encountered various enemies. The Fallen. The Hive. The Vex. I know how to stop them all. And the answer all resides on Mars. Meridian Bay. We have to attack the Black Garden." I said. Everyone looked at me shocked as if I had said something evil.
          "The...Black Garden...?" Ikora asked in shock. "Alex, bring up a display of the Vex and the possible locations of the Black Garden." I said. Alex made a hologram display on the table of various Vex monsters and the planet Mars. Different red blinking lights appeared on the surface of the planet indicating that there are possible entry points at those locations. "Before we can enter the Garden we need a key. I know where it is and how to awaken it. I was able to get directions from Mara Sov and her brother as to where to look on Mars but there is an issue. It's heavily guarded. It's gonna be hard to try and come up with a plan to infiltrate silently." I said. "You'll have to make a lot of noise regardless of how you enter." Ikora said. "Once the key is charged, we can work on gaining access to the Black Garden and destroying it for good. The Hive are not a worry. Neither are the Fallen. The Vex can and will do far worse if they are not stopped permanently. You have to look past this transgression in order to benefit us and the Traveler." I said. The room was silent. "You'll need a full team if you're planning on getting past the Cabal on Mars." Cayde said. I looked confused.
          "The Cabal?" I asked. Zavala sighed. "The Cabal are nothing but a ruthless and relentless force of pure military strength. They are truly a force not to be underestimated or taken lightly. You'll have to face off their guards. But since you feel brave enough to actually go through the trials and tribulations of disobeying commands and going to foreign planets, you'll be doing me a favor first." Zavala said. I smiled slightly. "What do I need to do?" I asked. "Ever since I could remember. We've been dealing with different cases of the Cabal all around Mars. So first, in order to weaken their leadership, we'll have to take them out. One by one. Starting with Valus Ta'aurc. If we are to do this, it would me war against them. From what I can gather, he commands the Siege Dancers from an Imperial Land Tank just outside of Rubicon on Mars. He's well protected, but with the right team, we can punch through those defenses, take this beast out and break their grip on Freehold. For as long as he stands, the Cabal will be in heavy forces and well aware. Going against Ta'aurch will be a challenge in itself. Once he's done, we can move easier." He said. I looked at Alex. "Go and tell everyone that I'm going to be training. I'm getting stronger before this mission." I said. He floated away and I was about to leave the Vanguards quarters but then Zavala stopped me. "I should very much take your Ghost away Guardian...good job out there." He said. I smiled to myself and continued on my way. My next destination: Lord Shaxx. I walked over to him and he was telling another one of his stories to the children. Everyone was laughing and I tapped on his shoulder.
          "Hey. Can we chat for a second?" I asked him. "Yes indeed Guardian." He said. He saw the children off and walked over to his couch. Sitting down and I sat next to him. "What brings you Guardian?" He asked me. "I need to get stronger. And fast. I'm going against the Cabal soon and I need a power up or two." I said. He laughed heroically. "You've come to the right man. I'll be training you and getting you started. I'm actually hosting an event. The grand prize is the glorious MIDA Multi-Tool." He said. He held out a poster and I saw a nice and flawless looking scout rifle. A nice gold body frame and it looked like it was half the size of what I was already using. "Woah...that's so cool." I said. I took the poster and it read "Guardians welcomed. Join in the Crucible  and win a fabulous reward. The one who comes on top will receive a fabulous prize." And the photo that was shown was the scout rifle. "Let's do it. I'm in." I said. Shaxx stood up and kinda pulled me up with him. "Excellent Guardian. Eyes on the prize. Let's get you suited up. Seems like you're still using the same loadout as before. You're in desperate need of an upgrade Guardian." He said. He pulled me over to the robot across from him and he had some more prestige weapons along the wall. They all had different colors and variations. "Woah. That's awesome. I want that hand cannon. Oh! And that sniper. And that shotgun...ugh can I just take it all?" I asked. He laughed and pulled some stuff off of the wall and sat them in front of me. "They're on the house Guardian." The robot said. I smiled and he gave me a thumbs up.
          "Alright. Now to see what these guns are made of." I said. Shaxx took me out of the Tower and we made our way to a group of people standing in the courtyard of the Tower. "Alright everyone. It's time for Rumble. Each of you will be put against one another. The person to come out ontop will receive their prize. And remember. Watch your back. Your enemies won't. Your Ghosts have been equipped with a device to revive you upon death." Shaxx said. I looked shocked. "W-wait. Death...?" I said making sure I wasn't hearing anything incorrectly. "In the Crucible, there is no 'out' or 'tag'. The Crucible represents real life scenarios. You must learn the hard way. You won't die. Your Ghost will protect you. Just trust your instincts and forge ahead." Shaxx said. I swallowed and instantly became nervous and scared. He began to lead everyone to the shipyard but I ended up falling behind. "Alex...maybe I shouldn't..." I said. "Don't be silly. You can do this. And besides you won't die for long. We can revive you." He said. "Kinda like when you found me." I said laughing slightly. We caught up with everyone and soon we all loaded up on one big ship and we departed for the Cosmodrome. Everyone was all excited yet one person was quiet the entire ride. He stood at the end of the ship. Another Warlock. I was curious to speak with him but I decided to keep to myself. Everyone in this ship was against me. Soon Shaxx came on the speakers.
          "Guardians. Welcome to Rumble. Kill your enemies. Watch your back." He said. Soon we were all teleported one by one into various different locations in a given area. My HUD in my helmet says "Rusted Lands, Old Russia."
          "Well it's good to know where I am. Time to fight I guess..." I said. I pulled out my hand cannon and carefully walked around slowly. Observing my surroundings. Soon I heard gunfire in the distance and Shaxx said that someone had taken the lead. I looked at my HUD once more and saw a score and a timer. "I better hurry." I said. I walked around and inside a building. The structure was basically destroyed and a huge hole in the wall was there. I looked around like an idiot to see everything and soon I took a bullet to my shoulder. I cried out in shock and fell back behind cover.  Alex began to heal my wounds overtime. "I'm not looking forward to this. Not one bit." I said. I looked from cover and saw the person that shot me moving closer with a shotgun. I loaded my hand cannon and started to fire. I missed a few times but it was enough to scare him. He fell back behind cover and so did I. Alex appeared. "You're too nervous. You'll have to loosen up if you want to win." He said. He soon vanished and I took a few breaths to calm myself down. I looked at the score and saw that I didn't have a single point but whoever was in the lead was about halfway to victory. "I've gotta make some progress." I said. I moved from my hiding spot and threw a grenade. It bursted into a mini Void ball and the enemy came from behind his hiding spot. I fired my hand cannon with better aim and accuracy and he fell to the ground. I was shocked as to what I had done but soon his ghost appeared and he teleported him away. I decided to move from my hiding place and move to a different location. A corner under a destroyed building structure. I kept quiet and saw that I got a point. "Slow and steady wins the race..." I said. I sighed and soon the same person I shot ran right past me.
          "He's...alive?" I questioned. He turned around and saw me and began to fire at me with his assault rifle. He wasn't really a good shot so I managed to escape. Once I was far enough away I pulled out my sniper and made a clean shot to his head. Once the bullet made contact he exploded. "Woah!" I said surprised. I looked at my sniper. "Alex, how did that happen?" I asked. "It would seem like your sniper has the ability to make the target explode upon a clean shot to the head. Firefly." He said. I smiled to myself as I became interested in my weapon. "This is so cool." I said. I began to move around the map. The leader was still racking up points like crazy. I picked up the pace as well. Ten minutes in and we were neck and neck. I hadn't died during the match and soon I came across the person who had the lead. We were tied for first. He began to open fire and slide towards me with a shotgun. I took a steady aim and fired my weapons at him. It basically took everything I could. I barely survived but he fell and I heard Shaxx say that I was in the lead. I celebrated for a moment but then I saw a crate of ammo. "Hmm. I'll just take this." I said to myself. It was ammo for my rocket. I loaded it up and began to hide. I was just a few points shy of victory. I just needed to wait for the right oppertunity. Once I saw more guardians in combat I decided to come out of hiding. I fired off a few rockets and they wiped out most, if not all of the enemies. "This match is over! Good work Guardian." Shaxx said. Everyone soon revived and people gathered to the carrier ship that brought us here. Shaxx stepped out and congratulated me. Handing me a sealed case as well. It was big. I took the box happily and got onto the ship.
          "This is awesome. I got another weapon." I said. The guy that was in the lead earlier sat next to me. "You're good kid. But you really need some work." He said to me. "Yeah. You're right. I'm not used to the crucible, ya know?" I said. He laughed slightly and soon we were on our way back to the Tower. Once there the guy took me to his place in the Tower. "I'll show you some good weapons." He said. I followed him inside and soon we ended up in his weapons locker. "This is the true Vault of my weapons." He said. I looked around amazed at everything that was there. Snipers, Rockets, Hand Cannons, Pulse Rifles, Shotguns and more. I was like a kid in a candy store if it was filled with weapons. "This is amazing." I said. He pulled a sniper off of the wall and handed it to me. I held it like I normally would any weapon. "That's the LDR-500. Four in the clip with a reserve of 11 rounds." He said. "Does it make people explode?"
          "No. It's better for people who want the perfect shot. It's main perk is Hidden Hand. It lets you steady your aim on a target with high stability."
          "Wow. I wish I had something like this."
          "Now you do. It's yours." He said. I was shocked. I looked at him and smiled. "Thank you so much!" I said. I placed it on my back and grabbed my case. "The name is Liam. Don't forget it." Liam said. I smiled. "Liam. Neat name. Haven't heard anything like it. I'm Parrish." I said. He smiled and shook my hand firmly and I made my way back to my room. Soon it was time for departure. I went to my room and opened the sealed case and there it was. The lightweight, small yet deadly MIDA-Multi Tool. I picked up the scout rifle and looked through it's sight. It was perfect but I also noticed a small radar on its left side. "Now I can keep track of who's nearby." I said. I placed the gun down and contacted the gang. "Ox? Gold? You guys there?" I asked. They soon answered the call. "Yeah I'm here." Gold said. "What's up Parrish?" Ox asked. "We have another mission guys. And this one isn't gonna be a joke. We're going to Mars. I know how to get into the Black Garden now but we have to take out someone first. We'll be going against the Cabal. Valus Ta'aurc is our target but in order to track his exact location we need to find an outpost on Mars. Once that's done, we kill Ta'aurc, get the Eye charged and go to the Black Garden." I said. "Meet up on Mars?" Ox suggested. "Sure. I'm down with that. I'm gonna go ahead there now so join up whenever you're ready." I said. "Alright. See you soon." Gold said. I hung up on the call and got my stuff ready. "Alright. Let's see what my newfound weapons can really do." I said. I put on my helmet and made my way to the ship. Once inside, I put in the coordinates to Meridian bay and we soon broke orbit and flew straight to Mars.
          "These coordinates out the Gate of the Black Garden near the lost city of Freehold. It's been buried in sands since the collapse. Now, the Cabal occupy the area and most of Mars. In order to get there, we'll have to get past the Exclusion Zone." Alex said. I sighed. "Well then. This should be fun." I said. After about an hour long ride, we finally landed on the desert like surface of Mars. Lucky for us the wind wasn't blowing like crazy so we were able to actually see our surroundings. "Alex, where's the Gate?" I asked. "It's miles from here and the Cabal have a lock on orbital communication. We can only land here. In order to summon your Sparrow so you don't have to walk, we're gonna have to break into one of their bunkers and disable the system manually." Alex said. I pulled out my MIDA-Multi Tool and started to make my way through the sands of Mars. Looking for any signs of movement. Soon we found a bunker. "Perfect. Let's get inside." I said. I started looking for an entrance and I eventually found one nearby. I went inside and took the steps downward and looked around. The place was full of weapons and tech that was very advanced for an alien race other than the Vex. "While we find a system, I'll tell you what I know on the Cabal: Eight hundred pounds and highly militarized. They blow up planets just because they're in the way of their goal. Just so you know what we're dealing with." Alex said. "Thanks for scaring me Alex. It means a lot." I said. As we moved throughout the base we found a few consoles that still had power. "Alex, do your thing." I said. He floated over to the computer and started tinkering with it.
          "Access key? I don't need an access key. This is too easy." Alex said as he began to mess with the systems and protocols. The lights of the base came on but so did the alarms. "Umm...I think I might have activated their failsafe." Alex said. "What does that mean?" I asked. Soon the giant metal doors that were in front of us opened and we saw an army of the armored soldiers standing in formation. "Oh...I guess that's their failsafe." I said. I loaded my gun and ran to cover and they all rushed in. Cabal soldiers with shields came forward to make a push towards me. I used my MIDA to deal some damage to them and soon I got a shot in or two. They were really tough and almost invincible in numbers. More and more began to flood the area. I made a call to Gold. "Hello?"
          "Gold! Where are you? I need you here now!!" I shouted. "What's going on? Are you in danger?"
          "No I'm having tea and cookies with the Queen of the Reef. Yes I'm in danger!! I'm pinned down by the Cabal! 32 North, 48 East!" I said. A Cabal soldier came up close and personal and I punched him down to the ground. I looked at the huge army and threw a grenade to hold them back. I ducked back behind cover. "32 North, 48 East. Meridian Bay. Got it?" I said. "Ok I got it. I'm inbound and landing near your position in 30 seconds."
          "Make it 20. I might not last that long." I said. I kept firing and soon I heard the clicking of my gun. "Oh no." I said. I went back behind cover and just threw more grenades. That's all I could do. My sniper was ineffective at the current range I was at and my rocket wouldn't do much to their shields. I was in a really bad spot. I kept firing on whatever I could throughout this ambush and I began to count the seconds that passed by. Soon I heard the rumble of Gold's ship. He hopped out behind the Cabal forces and began to open fire. Taking them out one by one. I soon was able to charge up enough energy to throw another grenade. Once it made contact with the Cabal they turned into nothing but void energy. I walked over to him as another Cabal ship began to drop off a huge soldier. He was heavily armored and wielded a giant chain gun. "Run!!" I shouted. Gold scampered to cover and so did I. While we were pinned the beast took a shot at Gold's ship and destroyed it. "Aw come on!" He said. I looked around and grabbed a Cabal shield and began to walk towards the beast of a soldier. He looked at me and began to open fire. The shield was useful to an extent. The further I walked the more damage the shield took. Eventually a bullet or two broke through the shield. "Parrish! Don't be a hero!" Gold said from cover as he began to fire at the soldier. I took the oppertunity as it was distracted to use the shield to knock the gun out of its hands. I pulled out my sniper and took a shot with just one hand. I popped it right in between its eyes.
          "What was that Gold?" I said. He just shook his head as he walked over to me. I sat down from exhaustion and Gold looked at the damage that his ship received. "Aw man. I can't afford another one." He said. "Don't worry. Alex can fly you back to the Tower. I have some things to take care of here. Any idea where Ox and Royal might be?" I asked. "Last I checked, Ox was back on Venus with Royal. They're currently hunting an Archon Priest in the Ishtar Sink." Gold said. "Ok. Head back to the Tower and recover. I've got some work to do."
          "What are you gonna do?"
          "I'm going hunting."
          I stood up and reloaded all my weapons. Luckily enough, the Cabal had ammo cashes lying around so I was fully stocked. "Alex, fly Gold home and bring back Ox and Royal with you when you return. We're gonna hunt down Valus Ta'aurc." I said. "Understood." Alex replied. He sent the ship home with Gold inside and we made our way to the last known location of Valus Ta'aurc.