The Academics of Fear

4 centuries ago...

Crota landed on the other side of his portal, head first. He lifted his head to find himself inside a maze rectangular metal tunnels, comprised of iron, brass, and titanium. The Hive Prince didn't know where he was, or how to get home. He looked around, viewing the 4-way node that he was standing in, confused on where to go, where to begin. The air had a different smell than that of a Throne World, ferric and sometimes rusty odors compared to musky smells of marrow and death. He smelt the air one more time. What is that smell? he thought. Crota picked up his sword from the ground, walked to his left, and walked into the tunnel on his left. This is too easy. Father, I will prove you wrong. He followed the scent, unaware of what lurked in these tunnels.

As soon as Crota reached another node, 3 white Vex Goblins were approaching from the right side. He ducked into the way he came in. They walked down the tunnel, and passed through the node, failing to detect a green Hive Prince roaming the halls. Crota crept up from behind, then took all three of them down with one stroke of his sword. The alarms blared, more white Goblins descended upon Crota. He readied his sword and began to cut through the waves of Vex. The Goblins fired back, burning a few tiny holes into the Hive Prince. Crota roared in pain, then charged towards the other side, destroying Goblins as he went. He ran down another hall, turned left at the next node, then right, straight ahead, and another left.

At the end of the road, he nearly missed falling down, and into the planet's hot core. He looked up and saw the same metal on the ceiling. WHERE AM I!? Goblins and Hobgoblins cornered the Son of Oryx, waiting to capture him. Crota stretched his left hand and shot a few bolts of Darkness at the Vex soldiers. He ran down another path, mowing down two dozen Harpies and dismantling a few Minotaurs that charged toward him. More Minotaurs ran into the scene, twice than before. Crota sliced through each one, and ran down another corridor, into another node. After running into a Hydra that blocked a tunnel, he tried to slice through its shield matrix, but was thrown backwards after failing to do so. Three more Hydras surrounded Crota from the other three hallways and captured him by setting up a translucent sphere made of matrices of code. The Hive Prince was immobilized and carried away by the Hydras.

They brought him to a large, triangular chamber, with an arch made of glass on the side opposite to the door, and a gigantic Hydra that barely floated above the ground. Its appearance was analytical and demonic at the same time: rounded armor with six large, devilish horns that resembled a crown, with three horns on each side, and a dark crimson, triangular eye. The detainment dissolved, and The Hydra looked at Crota as he dropped to the floor. When the Hydra spoke, it spoke in the Hive's tongue, with a sharp, nasty, and calculating voice. "Crota, Son of Oryx, the Hive Prince himself. It is an honor to have you here in my court. I am Xylar, the Timeless, Overlord of the Vex."

Crota rose to his feet, noticing the faint smell of something putrid, something like melted flesh. He stared at the Vex Overlord. "I was exiled from my world, left to die in this forsaken place. Then, I was almost gunned down by your soldiers, almost cornered into a lava core, and then forced to kneel before a tyrant I barely understand."

Xylar floated to the Hive Prince. "Apologies for your capture and for wrecking your father's Throne World, but we needed to understand what made you so powerful. Quria was one of the finest Minds I had, so I sent him to learn your Sword-Logic. For him to be imprisoned by your father, and then given to your aunt," he paused for a moment, "I guess you could say that I need some leverage: you."

Crota laughed, "Savathun wouldn't let one of her victims go, even if you had a bargaining chip. Besides, Oryx is the one who exiled me."

Xylar looked down and away. "I'm sorry."

Crota added, "He told me that I had to come back victorious, or not at all."

"And so the truth comes out." He began to hover around the Son of Oryx. "What if I told you that you could go home?"

"I'm listening."

"You would return, with a head of one of my Hydras and your own Throne World, as tokens of your 'victory'. All that we ask in return is an experiment."

"An experiment?"

"Of a hybrid. Imagine, the strength of the Hive combined with the intelligence of the Vex, your Sword-Logic without the worms. Together, we would be unstoppable."

Crota murmured, "You must be joking," then he raised his voice, "I will never trust my enemy, even if we faced the end of all our days!"

Xylar quickly flew to Crota's eye level and stared at him in the eye. "Do you think that I can be broken by such pride? Do you think that I had an alternate plan?" The Hydras formed the detainment around Crota. Xylar continued, "Remain here and rot, if you wish. I am very patient. I can wait." The detainment paralyzed the Prince, and he collapsed.

----------------------------------------------------

Present-day:

Leviathan was taken to the infirmary wing of the Tower, still unconscious as the crystal shards are being removed from his body. Lilli stood by Max as they watched from a distance, "I just talked with Eris."

The Warlock turned to her, curiosity gleaming in his eyes, "And what did she say?"

"She's using the sword core as we speak, and I am supposed to keep this Thorn. For what sane reason, I don't know."

Max shook, "Neither do I." He paused then asked, "How weirdly was I acting on the Moon?"

Lilli raised an eyebrow, "Self-conscious, are we?"

"N-no," the Warlock shook, "m-maybe... but I can't help feeling like I knew those images, as if they are a part of me."

The Hunter eyed him, "Do you think that it's a part of your past?"

"Or future?" he added.

"Why do you think the Sword of Crota would give you images of the future?"

Max shrugged, "It's what the Hive want, right? Total destruction until only they remain?"

Lilli raised an eyebrow, "Has Eris finally-"

"Lilli!" a familiar voice shouted across the room, "How's my favorite Hunter, eh?"

Max and Lilli spun around to find Cayde-6 coming towards them, arms open wide. Lilli smirked, "Hey, Cayde! Vanguard treating you well?"

Cayde looked up and pressed his hands to his hips, chuckling, "Ah, well, no... You see, they're talking about a demotion today."

"A demotion?" Max asked, "Who?"

Cayde looked down, "I can't say, I don't want to think about it."

Max took a minute to digest the information, then he too realized, "Lilli?"

Cayde nodded. Lilli asked, "Why me!?"

The Hunter Vanguard ushered Max and Lilli out of the Infirmary, "Zavala believes that you're too reckless for a Recruit."

Lilli grew stiff, "Reckless!?"

Max was confused, "Recruit? Is she a rookie like me?"

Cayde shook his head, "Nah, obviously not. She has field experience, but she isn't connected to the Traveler's Light like you or me. In other words, she can't use any powers, nor can she be resurrected willy-nilly."

Max's eyes widened at his partner, "You are-?"

She nodded, "Mortal? Yes, I am. But am I weak?" Lilli shook her head defiantly, "No, I am not!"

"I never assumed that you were."

"Neither do I," Cayde assured, "but Zavala says otherwise, and as much as Ikora, Alamo, and I disagree, Zavala has the Consensus on his side."

Lilli huffed, "Great...just great..."

Max just sighed, "So, I'm supposed to fight all on my own?"

Cayde shrugged, "I guess, but you don't necessarily have to."

The Warlock looked confused, "I beg your pardon, but what does that mean?"

The Hunter Vanguard pulled Max and Lilli aside and whispered, "Gabriella is recovering from her mortal injuries on the Moon."

"So?" Lilli whispered back, "She's still Leviathan's Ghost!"

"Not anymore, the Hive rituals have disconnected her from that douche of a Titan."

Lilli silently grinned. Max asked Cayde, "So, you're mentioning this for a reason, right?"

He nodded, "I'm saying that Lilli could use the Ghost to disguise her status."

She shook her head, "It won't work."

"Why not?" Max asked.

"Zavala, he has scouts on every planet to record our movements, and he's already seen me leave the Moon alive, a without a Ghost to boot. If they see me out there with a Ghost, he'll ask one too many questions about me, Leviathan, and what happened on the Moon. Then he'll fabricate some story about me as a traitor and sentence me to death!"

Max laughed, "Ok, now that's crazy."

"Really, Warlock?" She inched closer and closer to him, "Tell me, how does this City work?"

He paused, then heaved, "I don't know, but I would think it should work for the people."

Lilli shook again, "The reality is farther from the truth," she ushered him to a window, "Look out there, and tell me what you see."

Max took in the view of the City. He saw the City's wall, the Traveler, and the 7 different sectors of the City, one of which was decimated 5 years prior, and one was located in the center, with some shaped building right underneath the Traveler. Despite the looks of prosperity in 6 of 7 sectors, the center one was the most advanced in the whole City, comparable only to the Guardians' Tower. He stared at the central sector and said, "That building, what is it?"

Lilli smirked, "I'm glad you asked. That's the Consensus, where they eat, sleep, and work. Every law the City upholds is made there, most of which are corrupt, just as corrupt as the ones who made them. New Monarchy is always looking to replace the current system with a single powerful figure, Dead Orbit focuses on nothing but leaving Earth, and Future War Cult is just that, a cult."

Max shrugged, "Doesn't sound corrupt to me."

"No? How about this: New Monarchy is staining the Consensus so much that they are so close to their goal; FWC poses as a threat to them, but all they do is rant about the wars ahead instead of combating the problems they face here and now; and Dead Orbit rarely shows up anymore. As a result, the rich are beginning to bribe officials to pass more laws that benefit them. Now tell me, how well is the City faring under their thumb?"

Max took a minute to digest the information, "oh...Oh! I see!"

Lilli nodded, "Zavala is a part of it, Leviathan is influenced by it, a few other Guardians are also influenced, we need to be careful."

Cayde lowered his head, "I see," then he perked up, "Welp, I better get back to my maps."

"One more thing, Cayde?" The Warlock asked.

Cayde turned around and said, "Sure."

"Where can I learn more about my visions?"

His eyes bulged, "Please don't ask that again!"

"Why not?"

"It's against Guardian policies! Zavala's predecessor decreed it, and the Commander is very strict." Cayde left without another word.

Max sighed, "What now?"

Lilli asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"I have this burning curiosity about my visions," he explained, "and it won't go away. They beckon to be unveiled as keys to the past and future, how to learn from history and prevent dark inferences. I need to know."

Lilli nodded, "I agree. But we can't unveil them here. But even if the Vanguard allows this, nothing on Earth can help us."

Max looked up at the sky and wondered, "How many other planets have been touched by the Traveler?"

Lilli answered with, "Well, the furthest it ever got was the moons of Jupiter, so at least 4 planets and a few moons."

"And do any of them have technology that can delve into the fabric of time?"

Lilli thought, "Off the top of my head, I think Venus." She corrected herself, "The Ishtar Academy and its archives could help you, but that's just speculation."

"Then let's go!"

"Wait!" Lilli said, "Venus is dangerous enough as it is, acid clouds be damned!"

Max raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Lilli explained, "The reason why no Guardian has been to Venus in a long time is because of the Vex! After Skolas's defeat, they began flooding the planet's surface again!"

Venus, the second planet of the Sol system. It took 4 whole centuries before Humanity could colonize it and establish the Ishtar Academy, the largest university and one of Humanity's crown jewels in the Sol system, the other ones being Freehold and The Caloris Garden. Ishtar had everything Humanity could want and ask for from a university, that is until the Darkness came.

Now, Venus stands on the cusp between a shadow of its reformation, a step away from its acidic self, and becoming a future fortress of a robotic species known as the Vex. As far as the Guardians know, the Vex have been around since the Traveler first arrived, but some would argue that they came with the Darkness. Regardless of their past, Guardians know this about the present and their future here: the Vex cannot be easily removed.

Max and Lilli touched down on Venus's Shattered Coast, just outside the Academy. Max's Ghost spoke up, "Ok, I just looked up everything I know about the Vex: They're difficult to track and beat, but I can update my radar if I know what I'm looking for."

"How do you not know!?" Max asked exasperatingly.

"The Vex adapt to their surroundings, evolving to fit into different situations. In other words, they're very difficult to destroy."

Max and Lilli groaned, "great. just great." They moved into the Academy's largest hall, the Library, just opposite them and a golden statue, most likely resembling victory. Inside the Library, the walls and pillars were lined with old books and bookshelves, ancient relics covering everything from poetry to engineering, all towering over 3 stories tall. Foliage wormed around the uncovered ceiling and pillars toward the top, reinforcing the crumbling structure. In the center of the bottom floor was another golden personification of victory, holding a laurel high above her head, while wearing another one to keep her curly hair in a neat bun in the back, and 2 other ones to keep her toga set on her left shoulder and her waist. The statue outside was similar, but melted and broken in random areas. The library wasn't as large as the Warlock libraries in the City, but it was large enough for a college with dependence on electronics.

Max and Lilli stared at the library in awe, for neither of them had seen this many books before, let alone in an organized manner. But what really caught their eye wasn't the decrepit scenery, it was a towering square conflux standing in front of the statue, with glowing white wires making up the structure's latitudes and longitudes. Max and his Ghost examined the Conflux, "Fascinating," said the Ghost.

Max and Lilli eyed him, "What's fascinating?"

"This Conflux," he explained, "It's simultaneously here and halfway across the galaxy! If I can just-" The Conflux sparked, then disappeared.

Lilli looked all around her, grey clouds were now surrounding the statue and flooding the upper floors. "Wait! What's happening!?" she asked.

"It's the Vex!" cried the Ghost, "They sense a disturbance! Find cover!" Max and Lilli found debris large enough to duck behind in the back of the library and hid.

10 Vex Goblins teleported out of nowhere into the library, their red eyes fixated on Max and Lilli's shadows. Their right arms rotated 360 degrees parallel to their bodies, their hands transformed into blasters capable of melting rock. The two Guardians waited for three seconds before jumping into battle. Lilli literally jumped up and fired her hand cannon at the Vex, but couldn't get a dent in them. The Goblins fired melting shots at her, only missing by a few centimeters behind her. Max arose from cover and fired at the Goblins' heads, aiming at their cyclops eyes, missing 7 times out of 10. For the three he hit, they were blinded and malfunctioning like crazy. Their chests opened up, revealing a glowing white tube of goo, trying to guide the broken and trigger-happy Goblins to the Guardians. Max shot these tubes, and the three Goblins exploded into parts. Lilli noticed this and adapted herself to this strategy, killing the rest.

More Goblins arrived, this time with their horned Hobgoblin equivalents; these Vex units were armed with sniper arms and radar modules in their horns, acting like secondary eyes to triangulate their targets. 2 Hobs locked onto Max and charged their snipers, Max fired into their eyes and shattered the glass protecting the sensors. The Hobs screamed and crouched into protective balls of solar energy, but their chests didn't open up. Max's eyes widened, Uh oh! New strategy! He ducked behind cover and shouted through the comms, "Lilli!"

"I know! I know!" she shouted back, "I saw!" She fired 6 rounds at the Vex Goblins heads and exposed chests, killing them. The Hunter then ducked behind cover, throwing grenades at the Hobgoblins. The Hobgoblins' heads were blasted off by the ensuing explosion, causing their chests to finally open up. Lilli saw this opportunity to kill them off and finish the rest of the horde.

Just as the previous round of Vex were dispatched, the next round of 6 Goblins and 3 Hobgoblins spawned in, this time being led by a giant, muscular, shielded robot known as a Minotaur. This Vex unit was known for its built-in grenade launcher, lobbing small but powerful void balls at a target. Max threw a Vortex Grenade at the Goblins and Minotaur, 7 Goblins were sucked into the Void and destroyed, but the Minotaur and 2 Goblins locked their feet into the ground, stabbing the granite steps. Max closed the vortex and killed the 2 goblins before moving onto the Minotaur, trying to deplete its shields with bullets. Lilli jumped up and lobbed more grenades at the Minotaur, but they failed to drop its shields. Max hurled a Nova Bomb at the Minotaur, hoping to at least break down its force field, but failed once again. "It's not working! We need a new strategy!" Max shouted. The Minotaur tried for a close-range melee attack after teleporting a short distance, but Max's defensive palm struck the metal of the chest, forcing it to cave in on the liquid inside, causing the Minotaur to malfunction and fall to the ground, dying slowly. No more waves of Vex spawned after that.

Max stared at the Minotaur's corpse, "What kind of machine does this?"

Suddenly, the Minotaur's open hand grabbed Max's neck and squeezed. A female Exo appeared out of nowhere and said, "Stand still!" Max turned his head to find her aiming a gun in his direction. He bulged, then closed his eyes just as quickly as she pulled the trigger. 3 bullets were fired, though he didn't feel anything aside from the Minotaur's grasp loosening. He opened his eyes once again to find the Minotaur, finally dead, with 3 bullets in its skull, white liquid spilling from the holes and onto the floor. Max straightened himself, but the Exo quickly pulled him back, then lit the liquid on fire. "There, it's safe now."

Max jumped back, away from her, and frantically asked, "Who are you, and how do you know so much about the Vex!?"

The female Exo shook her head, "I don't have time to explain why I don't have to explain."

"Well, you have enough time to say that! So explain!"

She sighed, "I am a nobody, at least to your City."

"How so?"

"I can't explain."

The Hunter sighed, "Ok, how about the Vex? Can you explain them?"

The Exo shook her head, "I can't. All I know is that they adapt and predict their environments. Even a dead Vex is useful for their data."

"So why the different types?" Lilli asked, "Why escalate the battlefield so quickly!?"

The Exo looked at Lilli and said, "Because of you. Well, more specifically, him."

"Me?" Max asked, "Why me?"

The Exo rolled her eyes, "Because you're a Ghoul, a Guardian who has experienced death at least once, and cannot permanently die."

"Ok, sure. But why me? Why not her as well?"

"Because she isn't connected to the Traveler, yet."

"So, Vex can't predict Light? Then why wasn't she killed just now!?"

The Exo stared at Lilli for a while and said, "I don't know... But I do know this, Maxwell Prodigy: The Vex fear you and another person above all others. They saw a prophecy about a Warlock and a being known as the World-Breaker."

Max stared into the Exo's eyes with curiosity, "What prophecy?"

The Exo recited...

A fire born from the Ancient Times,

A destiny quelled by the strongest fear.

Two minds born due to political crimes,

Two lives were bred to be the other's peer.

Fear one, for they cast the people to raze,

Fear the other, for they break and set norms.

The World-Breaker's march set the skies ablaze,

The tune of the Warlock calmed the heavy storms.

Both will die by the other's hand before,

Both will rise by a mighty god's powers.

Deities fall under the Warlock's score,

World-Breaker charges, the City cowers.

So face thy enemy, confront your foe,

Or send the Universe to forever woe.

Max stepped back, eyes wide open. "That...is my prophecy!?"

The Exo nodded, "I'm afraid so."

Lilli cleared her throat, "So, about the Vex. How do we stop them?"

The Exo turned, "You can't." Lilli slumped until the stranger said, "But you can stall them."

"How?" The Hunter was desperate for answers.

"Find the Black Garden and rip out its heart. Only then will your path present itself."

"And how do we do that!?"

The Exo turned away and immediately said, "I'm returning, how many are there?" Silence. "Hold positions, kill the engines, and don't let them find you." And just like that, she was gone.

Lilli and Max stared at where the Exo used to be, then at each other, "Now what?"

Max's Ghost said, "The only way to get to the Black Garden is to see the Awoken, out on the edge of the Asteroid Reef."

"Great!" said Max, "Let's go!"

"No! You don't understand! The Awoken live in the Reef for one reason alone: The Awoken stand on a knife's edge between the Light and the Dark!"