It only took the four of them a few minutes to traverse the space between the city and the moon. They all followed Clay-19’s ship. He lead them straight to the Hellmouth, a massive gaping wound of a hole on the surface of the moon. As soon as all of them touched down, Clay-19 proceeded forward towards a platform on the ground. He motioned them forward to stand on it. As soon as they all were on it, the ground started rumbling, and the platform slowly began to light up. Looking up, Dylan saw a bridge forming out of what seemed to be hardlight. Raj and Skyler confirmed the suspicion, surprised that the hive were capable of such technology. As they finished speculating, the rumbling suddenly stopped, and the bridge solidified, with a platform leading to the center of the Hellmouth. Rajan peered over the side and saw a beam of faint green light leading straight down into the bowels of the moon. He looked back up in time to see Clay-19 leap into the light, and plunge directly into the darkness. He, Dylan-10 and Skyler exchanged worried glances for a brief second. Then all shrugged shoulders and lept into the hole as well.
They fell for what seemed like forever, time lost due to the never ending darkness surrounding them. Finally a sliver of light broke out of the darkness underneath them. He could see a vaguely humanoid shape of Clay-19 waiting for them. The three of them continued to plummet for another few seconds, until the ground suddenly rushed up to meet them. Rajan and Skyler activated their glide ability, dramatically slowing them down enough to land gingerly. They touched down with no problem. All looked up and awaited Dylan-10. He made no attempt to activate his ability, but came straight down like a projectile, and smashed down onto the lit platform. Once the smoke settled, they watched as he dusted himself off and readied his scout rifle. The others did the same, bearing the same powerful variant. Their Ghosts bobbed and fell, almost as if the darkness in the area was draining them of light. Each gently picked up their ghosts and stashed them away in their packs, much to the annoyance of the AI’s.
Dylan-10, Rajan and Skyler observed their surroundings. All they could discern was utter darkness, a barely visible footpath, and a faint light in the distance. They lifted their weapons and started forward until Clay-19 stopped their advance.
“There is a bridge here, far up ahead. I know the way.” Dylan was about to move on until Clay-19 halted his advance once again. “I can get to the bridge and activate it. You guys stay here. Keep silent on the comms, I’ll contact you once the bridge is up. Once it is, follow the path. You’ll know it when you see it. Also, once you see it, prepare to sprint, if you can. The darkness here… Its something else. It’ll weigh you down with crushing force.” He pulled out a dagger, and turned his head, saying,“Just wait on my signal.”
With that, he vanished in a whisp, and disappeared with the darkness.
After he disappeared, the Warlocks noticed the Titan hadn’t moved a step from where he had landed.
“Umm, are you-” Started to ask Rajan, until he heard a sniffle come from their mic, and turned fully to look over at the Titan.
He took a step forward and fell forward, crying uncontrollably not able to move his legs. A second later the mic cut off, but they could still hear the crying from his prone form.
“OH MY GOD KILL ME, WHY DID THEY LET ME DO THIS,” He wailed, waiting for his armor’s internal med packs to kick in and quickly heal him.
The Warlocks couldn’t help but laugh as they watched Dylan-10 slowly curl up and prop himself upright as he slowly began to heal. They then turned their gazes towards the lamps further in the darkness, waiting for word from the Hunter.
*
Clay-19 ventured through the dark with ease, avoiding the pits littered along the path, as well as the hundreds of hive scattered along the way. If he could activate the bridge before the hive could respond, the path would light up, allowing the rest of the team safe passage. As he speculated getting to the bridge, a Thrall got uncomfortably close. Close enough to get his scent. He took no chances, and plunged his knife in its neck, dispatching it before it could make any noises. He checked his arm, and was relieved to see the sudden movement had not removed his active camouflage. Through the darkness he trudged on, hoping not to run into any Knights or, if he was especially unlucky, Ogres. Following the lights, he found himself on a familiar path, knowing the bridge was not that far ahead of him.
Before long, he saw the dimly lit platform. He looked down to see his active camo fading. There were Hive ahead. He quickly dove behind a rock, and deactivated his camo, allowing it a moment to recharge. As he waited, poised to attack, he could hear the feet of the Thralls shuffling towards his location. Just a few more seconds dammit. If worse came to worse, he prepared his helmet to give the other three a red light, the code for a snag in the mission.
*
“Its been about twenty minutes. I say we go after him.” Said Dylan-10, rising to his feet.
“Don’t be brash. I imagine it takes longer to get past all those thralls.” Responded Raj. He sat down, resting his chin on his knees, watching Skyler pop shots off on Thralls who ventured too close to the well lit area. They found out that the creatures were far too accustomed to darkness, and that light actually hurt them.
“I just hope everything goes according to his plan…” He said, more to himself than anyone else.
He got up and walked a few steps into the darkness. A Thrall came sprinting towards him. Calmly, he raised his hand and waited another second. As soon as the Thrall was about to strike, he blasted the wretched creature with blinding fire, instantly turning it into ash.
“Oh, are we having a contest now? Watch this. Who needs to melt your enemies when you can break their spines?” He laughed.
Dylan-10 took place right where Rajan was a few seconds ago. A trio of Thralls rushed him, clawing and biting. He just sat there, laughing. They didn’t even scratch his armor. One was attempting to chomp at his ankle. He lifted his leg, and brought it down, with ground shattering force. The creature went limp. As for the other two, he grabbed one by the face, his and threw it towards a nearby rock. It impacted, with a loud crack. The creature hit the ground and twitched for a few minutes after. The last one, he grasped too, by the neck with his left hand, and wound back his right. Just as he was about to end it, he noticed a knife embedded in the creatures collarbone. He hadn’t noticed it before due to the fact that it was constantly moving. Lifting it up, he took the knife by its exposed handle and ripped it out. Calmly, he slipped it in his belt. Then looking back up, he brought his fist back and drove it into the creature’s head. Needless to say, the Thrall ceased to exist as its body disintegrated.
*
The Thralls were nearly upon him, but his HUD read that his shield batteries were fully charged. He pressed the button on his gauntlet, and vanished from sight once again. The second the reflective panels in his armor adjusted to his surroundings, the Thralls walked past the rock. Another second and he would have been compromised.
He slipped past the Thralls and carried on, knife in hand. Sprinting towards the platform would reveal his location. Nice and slow. He thought to himself. A few seconds later, he reached the platform. He only had a few seconds to get to his spot now. The bridge area shook slightly, and it started forming. He turned to see a battalion of Knights with swords emerge from their ambush spots. But he was ready. He snuck away from the site, and past the Knights, who inspected the area, confused. Just a few more seconds. As he backed up, he bumped into a Thrall.
The creature let out a shrill scream, and started clawing at the air. Clay-19 quickly looked over to see the Knights turn to look at the creature. He jumped up once, then twice, and landed high above them on a rock outcropping. Looking past the sea of Hive, he spotted not one, but two Ogres, towering above the rest of the Hive. Clay-19 quickly sheathed his knife and hefted his Gjallarhorn, and aimed down the sights. The scope acquired the target, and let out rapid beeping noises as it locked onto the behemoth. The second it did, he pulled the trigger twice, unleashing two rockets. One impacted an Ogre directly in the face, and released a swarm of wolfpack rounds, which made short work of the creature. The second rocket sailed over the fallen Ogre and hit the other dead center in the chest. This rocket too released wolfpack rounds, which scattered out and targeted some of the nearby surviving Hive. He reloaded as quickly as he could, ready to fire another barrage of rockets as they slowly started to walk towards him, but then the bridge finally formed. From the end of the bridge, the tunnel towards the next area shot out a brilliant white light. The Hive waiting at the other end were instantly vaporized. It took but a few seconds for his optics to focus, but once they did, he felt relief. The ones that were nearly upon him had fallen over, dead, from the mysterious light. He looked over and saw the trail lit up with the same brilliant light.
*
The ground shook, and brought Rajan, Skyler and Dylan-10 to their feet. They raised their weapons, expecting Ogres. Instead, they were greeted with a blinding light, then a second later, the path before them light up with the same light. Any Thralls that were on the path burned to death. All that were remotely near were now gone, undoubtedly scurrying back into their holes. A second later, a green light appeared in their HUDs, indicating they were safe to proceed.
After a few minutes of trekking, they climbed the last hill and found Clay-19 resting atop a rock next to the bridge.
“Shall we proceed?” He asked, jumping off the rock. Dylan-10 stopped him before he could walk on. “This one of yours?” He asked as he pulled out the knife he found earlier.
Clay-19 did a double take as he recognized the piece. Dylan held it out, and he took it, inspecting it.
“How’d you get it? I must have thrown a dozen or more knives down here.”
“Found it on a pissed off Thrall. You’re welcome.” He said, turning towards the bridge.
Clay-19 slipped the knife into his belt and too, proceeded to walk down the bridge. They all followed suit, walking into the blinding light at the end of the bridge.