The Death of Hope: Shattered Past Book 6 (Destiny 2)

3: Return

A hunter in her early twenties walked up to a ledge with her SUROS sniper rifle. She aimed down the sights toward the platform nearly twenty meters below. Her purple Awoken eyes dilating as she looked around. Oddly, the room was empty, except for a shield that was in the center of the room with a glowing orange light on it. She lowered her rifle and placed it back on her back. Her armor was a jet black with a singular bright red visor slit going horizontally over her eyes, with etches into the facade of the helmet showcasing each of the high-value targets she'd killed over the years. Though, thanks to James-17, it had been a while since she'd last carved a new slit. 

"Anything down there Jaina?" Her Titan teammate asked. 

"No, just that shield," She replied sincerely. The Titan was nearly in opposite coloration to her armor, his was white, sleek and new. With a blue visor that covered his entire face like an astronaut helmet. The two blue flames that emitted out from the top didn't seem to bother him. Then again, model 18's were built to be resistant to fire, so it only made sense. After he woke up, the first guardian he found was Jaina, who promptly named him Scorch. 

"Just the shield?" One of the Warlocks of the team asked. 

"Yeah, that's it," 

"Well, the door's sealed shut, we're gonna need to find another way around," Scorch replied. 

"Or tear the wall down," Another Warlock replied. 

"Not possible, that Vex stone is one of the toughest substances we know of, there's no way to pierce it with the weapons we have." Scorch replied rather annoyed with the guardian's comment. Scorch then leaped down to the bottom platform noticing the depths that were beneath him as he fell. He could feel his Exo power core drain for just a moment before he landed down on the platform below. He looked around for a moment making sure that his Hakke shotgun was fully loaded before walking up toward the shield. It was massive, a diamond in shape with a large orange light in its center. He could feel the eye staring back at him, and something made him feel compelled to hold it, to use it. 

The other five people in his team jumped down to the platform behind him as he reached out to touch it. He could feel his stomach jump as he stretched out his hand to touch it further. After grabbing the shield the door opened for them, curious, the Titan wrapped the shield around his forearm, and they walked further into the depths. Jaina looked over to her right at the other Hunter who was with them. The grey Exo looked around them as she checked the magazine on her sidearm for the eighth time in the past fourteen minutes. 

"Sara?" She asked the Hunter. Swiftly her head turned over toward the Awoken. 

"H-huh? Yeah?" She asked. 

"You feeling alright?" 

"Y-yeah, I'm alright," She replied looking over toward the gateway. "I don't think I feel comfortable though," She said walking close to Jaina. 

"Sara, relax, everything's gonna be fine, we'll get out of here, I promise," Jaina said placing her hand on Sara's shoulder. The Exo nodded quickly in response and walked slowly and closely to the Awoken next to her. The group had roamed around the vault for what felt like a few hours, not even seeing the photoreceptor or the metallic clanking of the foot of a Vex. Just a still, empty, silence. Jaina could swear that she heard a drop of water fall down from one of the stalactites to the ground on the other side of the canyon. The group walked until reaching the point where there was a large chasm with multiple floating stone blocks leading to the other side.  The fireteam walked over each of the stair-like apparatuses until they reached a triangular door with another triangle on the inside of it. As they approached, they could hear a resounding Vex roar as the door lit up.