Garden of Darkness

An Exo Hunter stood outside the buried Clovis Bray building in the lost city of Freehold, his optics scanned the building for two things, the Psion Flayers, and a mysterious machine. It didn't take long to find the Flayers, but the machine was well-hidden. Jess and another Awoken Warlock walked behind the Exo, "Find anything Kaden?" Jess asked.

Kaden-2 turned around, then raised his hands up to his chest, waving them in certain patterns, conveying his thoughts. Kaden was the only Exo Guardian without a functional voice box, so he learned to use sign language. "The Flayers are at the pinnacle of the building," he signed, "If you hurry, you can catch them before they enter the Warmind's Cortex."

"And the machine?" the male Warlock asked, "Is it with the Flayers?" He was old, roughly in his 60's when he was resurrected, and by the tone in his voice, one could tell that he was impatient and analytical. Whoever he was in his old life, he certainly carried those traits over to his new one.

"I don't think so, Asher," Kaden signed in response, "Clovis was too smart and too clever to put his prized possession on display for the whole world to see, let alone at his tower's peak. To find the machine, we need to dig down."

Asher Mir understood, albeit grudgingly, "Fine...take me to it, and quickly! I need to document all the Golden Age artifacts for my book!"

Kaden slapped his head as he turned away, It won't be that easy...

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Max and Lilli rode up to a giant spire known as the Vex Confluence in the heart of Firebase Rubicon, Gate Lord's eye in hand. "I hope this works," Lilli said. Their goal here was to charge the Gate Lord's eye, unlock the front doors to the Black Garden, then hope to make it to the heart. The Hunter placed the eye into the Confluence, then watched the spire come to life.

"I sure hope that's a good thing," Max said.

The Confluence hummed melodically as it disassembled itself from top to bottom in an orderly manner, the once interlocking blocks were now orbiting the spire, dissolving with every rotation. The Confluence's core was a rectangular prism the height of Max, glowing light blue. The Warlock was entranced by this, "It's so beautiful." He stepped closer and closer to the prism, Lilli warned him to stop, but it was all for naught. Max touched the prism, and lurched backward in pain, "UGH!" He removed his hand, but it was too late, his glove and palm had two long scratches cutting diagonally from his index finger to his wrist and from his pinky to his thumb, and the prism was gone. The scratches felt like a thorn slicing open the skin, and unlike the Void bombs that took Max's stomach, these scratches made him bleed. The Warlock stared at the large 'X' in his hand for a while, long enough to notice that he wasn't bleeding a typical human red, but rather a strange jet black substance with the same viscosity as blood. "What is this!?"

He didn't have long to think before the Cabal arrived. Leading the charge was an armored Centurion named Primus Sha'aull, the Cabal fanatic in charge of Firebase Rubicon. The Primus growled and fired mini-grenades at Max from his Projection Rifle. Max jumped and glided out of the way before the grenades hit him. Lilli fired multiple bullets in retaliation, but none could even pierce the armor. Sha'aull fired back, but the Hunter was faster at dodging. Minutes went by and nothing changed dramatically.

Max then saw how the Primus's armor was attached together, via buckles and clasps. He told the Hunter, "Lilli! Aim for the clasps in the armor!" Max threw a Vortex Grenade at the Primus and kept the Vortex open, hoping that Lilli would shoot the armor buckles in time.

She fired from her hand cannon, but managed to hit the clasps only 1 time out of 8. "No good!" she shook, "I need something with more accuracy! Something like your scout rifle!"

Max looked at the scout rifle, then at the distance between him and Lilli, then at the Vortex, assessing the situation. He quickly weaved around the Vex prism was, away from the Vortex, and handed the rifle to Lilli. "Thanks!" and she shot down all the clasps on the Primus's armor. The Vortex sucked all of it into the Void, and Max closed the Vortex then threw a Nova Bomb at the Primus to finish him off.

The Cabal Legionnaires that followed Sha'aull out of the Firebase barracks retaliated with their slug rifles, set to the 'rapid fire mode', scaring Max and Lilli out of the Firebase and into the Valley of the Kings. Max merely had to present himself before the gate to activate it, thus sending him and Lilli into the Black Garden.

Of all the things that existed on Mars, the Black Garden was both beautiful and dangerous, both fantasy and reality. The Garden was lush with big and small green plants decorating the walls of the Vex architecture that made up everything from the floors to the walls and ceilings. Surprisingly enough, the Black Garden had it's own atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen, making the place breathable for humans, but the lighting was eerily green, more so than the plants, and similar to Crota's soul gem.

Max and Lilli carefully walked through the hallway stemming from their entry into the Garden, looking out for any Vex frames. For a while, they found nothing new aside from randomly placed metal prongs poking out of the walls. Max turned the next corner and jumped back, a Vex Goblin was standing in the middle of the straight hallway, inactive and collecting dust. Max approached the Goblin again and poked it, nothing happened. "An inactive Vex?" He examined the the radiolarian case, "Drained pod, but complete frame. Where did the milky stuff go?" Lilli advanced down the hallway to find more inactive Goblins, all with moss growing on the metal frames. Max joined her a while later saying, "Inactive, every last one. The question is 'Why?'"

As they walked further down the hallway, they reached a balcony that overlooked the entire landscape of the Garden, in all its grey and green beauty. "The Black Garden," Lilli was astonished, "I never thought that something so dark could be so beautiful."

"That's how the Darkness tempts you," Max's Ghost warned.

As they moved closer to the Black Garden's dark heart, Max and Lilli found more inactive Vex, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Minotaurs, the once floating triangular Harpies, and even the large Hydras, all dormant and empty. "Dead Vex in their Garden?" Lilli pondered, "I wonder who killed them like this."

Max felt his hand pulse loud if he approached a Vex frame. "They're not dead," he corrected, "They are empty." Then he widened his eyes, "They're empty! But not because someone drained them!"

Lilli looked confused, "What? How is that possible?"

Max proposed a question, "What if The Garden is waiting to activate them?"

"Ok, but how!?"

"Because the Garden is a Vex, or more accurately a part of the Vex, like these Goblins here."

Lilli widened her eyes, "So what you're saying is that the Vex are a collective of minds!?"

"No, I'm saying it's one mind spread across multiple frames, Goblins, the Hydra on Venus, the Garden! It's a hivemind!"

Lilli almost fainted, "We're standing inside of a Vex right now!?"

Max nodded. "We need to shut down the Garden before Mars gets converted!" The Guardians ran through open-roofed forums before reaching the locked door to the dark heart's chamber. Lilli looked at door and said, "It's locked! There must be a key around here somewhere!"

The Vex Prism spawned in Max's scarred palm, a small prism that wasn't stained by Max's blood for some reason. He placed it down on a large square hole in front of the door, and the prism began to generate larger layers around itself, filling the hole. A small beam of light passed through the prism to hit the door's center, opening it to the chamber of the heart. Inside the semicircular chamber was the heart itself, a mechanically pulsing liquid sphere of Darkness, spreading its thin tendrils across the chamber. Surrounding the heart were 3 stone statues resembling Vex Minotaurs, and at least 100 Vex, all frozen in prayer before the heart. But when Max looked at the congregation, he saw something else. "Hive!? In the Vex Black Garden!? What they doing here!?"

The dark heart pulsed and boomed in a deep voice, "They're my guests, fellow worshippers in my temple."

"But why?"

"Because Crota and I have a deal. He gives me all the benefits of the Sword-Logic, and I give him the ability to see through Time. As a result, my Vex guard his Throne World, and his Hive guard my Garden..."

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Crota woke to mechanical enchanting in a sing-song voice, minutes after he was knocked out. The Hive Prince tried to stand up, but his head throbbed under the pressure of his past failures, each one heavier than the last: the first battle against the Eliksni, the prolonging war against the Cabal, the Vex flood, and now the retreat away from the Vex Overlord. One defeat alone is too many for me to bear. The Undying Mind was surrounded by a matrix, hovering above the darkened ground.The Hydra's enchantment started off soft, growing louder by the hour. Crota looked at the Undying Mind in the dark, or at least the outline of the giant Hydra. As the Mind's voice was raised in volume, the vast darkness began to grow some color, which blossomed from every corner of the map. The colors of the 'sky' were a mixture of blue and green, becoming bolder as the enchantment boomed throughout the whole place. The ground began to take shape as a semi-circular stone floor with hardened brass wires as a skeleton. Crota stood close to the left side, while the Mind was in the middle, above a brass circle smaller in comparison to the huge floor. A staircase formed on the end of the floor, opposite the Mind. Attached to the stairs was a circular door with metal threads and a dome on the side of the next room, away from the Mind. The Mind paused his enchantment, and said, "Yes, this shall be my altar. This is my home." The Mind continued enchanting in the tongue of the Vex.

Home, Crota thought, is dimensions away. Home is what I'm exiled from. Then a thought ran through his head, I must contact my cousins. He looked around the altar for a few bones, maybe some marrow dust. "Undying Mind?"

The Hydra stopped enchanting. "Yes?"

"I need some bones."

"Why don't you use one of your fingers?"

Crota sighed, "What I'm about to do requires a tomb husk, which is a condensed form of bones, marrow, and flesh. With it, I could make a call to my cousins."

The Mind laughed, "Why? To tell them you're safe?"

"Yes." Crota's tone was deathly serious.

The Hydra looked at the Hive Prince in the same manner. "Crota, if you contact your relatives, even for a second, Xylar will home in on us, and we'll be caught again, and then executed."

Crota looked down for a while and wandered about the altar. With his back facing the Mind, he said, "Do you really want to fight me?" Before the Undying Mind could answer, Crota quickly turned 180 degrees, and launched a beam of Darkness from his open fist, pummeling the Hydra to the ground, breaking its brass armor and splitting the spine into a head and 3 rings. The liquid that was split was white and fleshy. Perfect. Using his sorcery, he lifted the Radiolaria off the ground and attached it to the blade of his sword.

He planted it into the ground, and called out, "ALAK-ZUL!"

A fuzzy image of a giant black, triangular horn with an angular jaw materialized above the sword. The Warpriest asked, "Crota? Do you know that it's dangerous to phone home right now?"

Crota hesitated, "Yes, but I need your help."

Alak-Zul looked worried, "Do you know what would happen if I did? My mother and uncle will lock me up and dissolve me into chitin, just like what they are doing to my brother right now."

Crota knew of Alak-Hul's fate. Ever since he took up the mantle of Darkblade, Alak-Hul has been slaughtering masses of Hive in the name of his girlfriend, Verok, and his mother, Xivu Arath. The Hive Prince said to the Warpriest, "And what about Balwur?"

"She is tithed to your father's court, leading her younger siblings and the most loyal servants that bow to us. I don't know why there is a Court, other than for the practice of Sword-Logic."

"Do you doubt Oryx?"

Alak-Zul looked away, thinking about his answer, and phrasing it in a way that didn't offend anyone. "No, he has his ways, and I am one of his many swords on the battlefield. But, there is something weird about Oryx that I don't understand," that he whispered, "I think he's being eaten from the inside out by a worm."

Crota looked puzzled. "A worm?" He chuckled, "You've got to be kidding me."

Alak-Zul's expression was serious, "I'm not. I think that's why we have the caste system, and why we go to war almost every day. I think that we kill for the sake of living and keeping our strength, and that it's the worms inside our parents that force us to go to war."

Crota shook his head, "I don't believe you."

Alak-Zul continued, "But, the weird part is Oryx's Final Shape. I think that the Final Shape will not be a need for war, but rather a wanting for it. When we are no longer tithed to the Worm Gods, only then will we learn true strength." Crota didn't change his expression. The Warpriest added, "What I fear is that we will find a planet where they have already reached the Final Shape, and we'll be lead to extinction."

Crota dropped his jaw, "WHAT!?" His anger screamed, "YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT WE, THE STRONGEST WARRIORS OF THIS UNIVERSE, THE BLADES THAT CREASE ITS VERY NATURE, ARE GOING TO DIE?"

From Alak-Zul's end, a voice said, "Warpriest? Who are you talking to?" The Warpriest turned back to Crota, "Got to go. Oryx needs me." The line went dead.

Crota felt a rumble and looked to find the head of the Undying Mind floating on its own. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

The Mind laughed, "You really think that I could help you escape?" The three rings floated to three different points, all with the same radius from the center. "Maybe my minions will help you understand." The rings grew into three different Gate Lords: one from the past, one representing the present, and one visualizing the future.

Crota stretched his open fists, and with a gesture, froze the Gate Lords in stone. "Sorry, but you'll need them in the future." He turned, and shattered the Mind's head into atoms, liquefying it into a pulsing Black Heart. He added, "Besides, nobody makes a fool of the Son of Oryx, and remains in their present state." He shouted into the deep, "BLACK GARDEN, HEAR MY CRY. YOU ARE BOUND TO A DISTANT PLANET, A PLANET THAT HOUSES A WEAPON TO RENDER TIME ASUNDER. YOUR CURSE IS THUS, LET YOUR CHILDREN REMAIN HERE, AND BE THE PRISON OF THE UNDYING MIND. NO ONE BUT YOUR DESCENDENTS ARE TO LEAVE THIS PLACE." The Garden rumbled, acknowledging Crota. The white-alloy Vex can't leave, but their dome-headed descendants will. When they do, all Hell will break loose. Crota lifted his sword out of the ground, looked at its blade that was encased in Radiolaria, and said, "Your name is Doombringer, your purpose is to cut down all that is not Hive." The Sword glowed green with amusement. Crota swung the Sword again, tearing another hole in the space-time continuum, and jumped through it.

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Max's mind felt opened for the first time, "So that's how I saw my visions! It was because of you!"

The heart pulsed contentedly, "Correct!"

Lilli realized, "So maybe you can tell us how to cure Leviathan!?"

The heart laughed, "Why would I? He's a servant of Crota now, just like the Dark Hunter before him."

Max gasped, Oh shit! We need to get back to the City! He turned to face the door, only to find it locked again.

"Oh, did I intrigue you? Well unfortunately, I can't afford for you to escape!" The heart pulsed and sent white radiolaria into the praying Goblin husks, activating and sending them at the Guardians. The Hive Acolytes picked up their own weapons and began firing at Max and Lilli. The Hunter took the Warlock's rifle and and began pelting mossy Vex Goblins and Acolytes from the Spawn of Crota. Max tossed Vortex Grenade after Grenade at his enemies, trapping them into the Hunter's rifle sight. More Goblins and Acolytes spawned, wave after wave, replacing their fallen brethren. Max turned another Grenade a few times in his hand, thinking about a new strategy. He tossed the Grenade at the huge mass of shooting Acolytes, expecting another vortex, but instead watched as the grenade split itself into 3 small Void balls that followed the Vex and Hive wherever they were.

As soon as the chamber was clear, the dark heart stretched its tendrils out to the center, animating the first statue into the Primeval Mind, the Gate Lord of the Past. Max and Lilli dodged all of its shots, then returned fire to its huge radiolarian case, causing the Mind to explode. The heart growled, then spread its tendrils to the other two statues, animating the Imminent Mind on the right, and the Echelon Mind on the left. Lilli pounded the Present Gate Lord with bullets from her hand cannon, trying to puncture the armor and expose the radiolaria. The Echelon Mind felt every bullet almost immediately, then retaliated in response. Max tried throwing Grenades at the Future Gate Lord, but it dodged every single one before he had a chance to throw them. He tried bullets, but even those couldn't work. Lilli tossed one of her grenades at the Echelon, then shot at it midair, exploding in the Gate Lord's face, damaging the head and exposing the radiolarian case. Lilli jumped up, beyond the Present Gate Lord's reach and height, then fired into the chassis from the broken head, destroying the Echelon Mind. Max was still having trouble with the Imminent Mind and its accuracy in predicting his moves. Do all Vex do this? Do they infer our next actions? If so, how do I beat this Gate Lord!?

Then it hit him, as if a Titan crashed on top of him with a Fist of Havoc, It's perfect! Better yet, it's unpredictable! He motioned for Lilli to come to him and asked, "How many grenades do you have?"

The Hunter ruffled through her pouch, "Uh...10."

"I need you to pelt this giant with your grenades, and I'll do the same with mine."

Lilli gulped, "How quickly? These bombs won't stick to anything!"

"Very, we need a chain reaction!"

Lilli stood to the left of the Imminent Mind, Max stood to the right, and both began pelting the Gate Lord with their Grenades. Lilli tossed 8 grenades at once, then drew a different hand cannon, a golden one with black details and a wooden handle and a leather wrapped grip, the memento of her first mentor, Jaren Ward. She fired the gun from the hip, trigger held down, the hammer pin striking the magazine 8 times with the help of Lilli's hand, the bullets striking the grenades in rapid succession. Combined with the Warlock's Vortex Grenades, the Imminent Mind fell.

The dark heart howled, "MUST I DO EVERYTHING MYSELF!?" It descended and transformed itself into a giant Hydra with 3 rotating shields and a mossy metal skin. This Hydra didn't hesitate to fire at the Guardians with its dual Torch Hammers, even as they split up.

Max cried out, "This dark heart is nuts! Where's a Titan when you need them!?"

Lilli shrugged, "I don't know, but now I regret wasting my grenades!"

Grenades! Max thought, I can alter my own Void Grenades! He generated a few vortexes in his hands, then crushed them with forked fingers, and tossed them at the Hydra. The Grenades splintered into multiple mini-grenades, each exploding and generating smaller grenades within a growing radius. The Hydra growled and howled, "YOW! Goblins! Assist your Undying Mind right now!"

The chamber was then flooded with Vex Goblins, Lilli quickly went to work rapidly firing through the Goblins with her memento, Max did the same with his scout rifle. The Undying Mind fired at Max, the Warlock fell to the ground in pain, crippled from the blast. "AUGH!" The Warlock screamed.

Lilli gasped, then ran to Max's aid, firing cover fire bullets at the Hydra and grabbing him by the waist and dragging him to permanent cover. By sheer luck, one of the memento bullets struck the Hydra's eye, blinding it. "Are you alright?" Lilli asked.

"I just got my legs blown off!"

"Sorry!" she quickly said, "I just wanted to know if you can still fight."

The Undying Mind growled again, "I'm blind! Goblins! Kill them!" Nothing happened. "GOBLINS!!" Nothing. The Chamber of the Black Garden only had 3 occupants: Max, Lilli, and the Undying Mind. "Fine!" The Undying Mind shouted, "I'll do it myself!" The raised platforms sank, Max fell to the ground with nothing to support him. Lilli screamed, "MAX!" but it was too late. The Undying Mind fired at Max, killing him. "NOOOOO!!!" The Hydra shot at Lilli too, but she was too quick. Anger fueled her veins, fire pumped her heart, and she fired from her memento again at the Hydra, only this time, the bullets contained fiery payloads, melting through the Hydra's Torch Hammers.

The Hydra howled, "How!? How are you possible!?"

The Hunter raised her gun again, "I'm Shin Malphur, the Girl with the Golden Gun, and you killed my friend!" She fired 8 more times at the Hydra's eye, melting it completely as it screamed in agony.

Then there was silence. Total silence.

Max's Ghost floated up to Shin, "You're Shin!? THE Shin!?"

"Yes," she rolled her eyes, "Now bring him back!"

Max's Ghost fired a beam at the ground, materializing the Warlock before the Hunter's eyes. Max gasped, "Oh my Traveler! That was-! That was-!!"

Shin quickly wrapped her arms around Max, "You're alive! Thank goodness!"

The Warlock was having trouble breathing from Shin's loving squeeze, "...um...Ok, Lilli! Can I breathe now?"

Shin let go of Max, "Sorry, I just can't stand losing another one of my friends." Then she added, "And there's something you need to know..."

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Crota stared at a Vex Goblin in disbelief. From within his Throne World, Vex could come and go as they please, so long they have something relevant. "Speak, Goblin!" The Hive Prince demanded.

"My lord," addressed the Goblin, "the Black Garden has fallen. I, the Undying Mind, am the only one remaining."

"How did it fall under your jurisdiction!?" Crota demanded again, "These things don't just happen! And in name of my father, don't say it was the meddlesome Warlock!"

"It wasn't, my lord."

Crota breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh good."

The Undying Mind gulped, "It was his friend, the living Hunter."

Crota grimaced, a faint memory recalled in his mind...

Crota landed back in Xylar's domain and immediately opened up a hole in the ground. Out of the black void came two wizards, named Omnigul and Yut. Both were outfitted with traditional Hive robes, both held powerful Agonarch Runes. "What are your orders, Lord?" they asked.

The Hive Prince answered, "Toss those Runes into each of the halls. We'll deal with them later." As they moved about, Crota swung his sword, cracking a different surface with every swing, and Omnigul would proceed to place a Rune in every cracked wall.

Sooner than expected, the Goblins appeared, this time with Torch Hammers in both hands. In fact, every Vex, from the Harpies to the Hydras, was equipped with Torch Hammers. They were told only one thing: shoot on sight. When Crota encountered a few Vex, he and Omnigul would launch an endless volley of Darkness Bolts, shredding the robots into atoms. The three kept marching, moving from room to room, dismantling Vex, breaking surfaces, and placing runes.

When the thousandth rune was placed, the metal started to corrode, spreading like wildfire across the realm. "The Runes have done their job. They can proceed without relying on any more runes!" exclaimed Omnigul.

Crota grinned evilly. "Now, to find Xylar." After a couple of turns, they entered Xylar's Throne Room and stood before the Vex Overlord himself. "Stand aside Xylar, and your life will be spared," offered the Son of Oryx.

"Or what?" Xylar challenged, "You couldn't even kill me before. I am more complicated than you can possibly imagine. I can fight another day in a different body, whereas you are confined to one soul for all eternity."

Yut stood by herself, preparing a death-song of her own creation. Omnigul, on the other hand, hovered to Crota's side. "What a laugh!" she roared, "I've never heard such pompous lies. Crota took down the Kell of Rain, challenged the fractured Cabal Empire and won, and he's even betrayed and defeated your precious Undying Mind."

Xylar was stunned for a moment. "Impossible," he said, coming out of his daze, "I would've known."

Crota laughed, "You think you're so powerful on that throne of yours." The Overlord began to sink. He knew what would happen next, there was no alternative in the time stream. "Let's see how powerful you are when your world is reduced to ash!" Yut began to scream her Liturgy of Ruin, every word ignited a small green flame in the corroded brass. The four Hydras charged, prepared to kill Crota, but were cut down by Omnigul's spells, and shattered by the Liturgy. Xylar charged at the Hive Prince, only for him to be trapped by Omnigul's poisonous sphere. Yut continued, with every note violently thrashing into the walls of the realm as the song became louder.

Crota lifted the trapped Xylar with his magic. He gloated, "I am not dull, but sharpened with lethality. I don't get carried away; I am focused. I do understand my purpose: an eternal war waged on the Traveler. But you did get one thing right..." Xylar widened his eye in fear. Crota shouted, "I AM EXPLOSIVE!" At that moment, Crota sliced through Xylar as if he was butter, and the last note of the Liturgy echoed through the void of the realm, brutally breaking the realm into various sized pieces...

The prince howled and swung his Sword into the Goblin, slicing it in half as he did to Xylar 400 years ago. "DREDGEN BANE!"

Leviathan's image appeared before Crota's right hand, "Yes, my lord?"

"Bring me the Warlock and his friend! I have a few questions for them!"

All that remained, apart from the chunks of corroded brass and the three invaders, was the solar core that used to power the Vex Homeworld, below their feet. Crota took one look at the core. Yes, he thought, This core shall be my Oversoul. He cast a spell, and moved the core to his eye level, then took the Vex Radiolaria, and fed it to the core. The once orange sun became a sickly and poisonous green, the same shade as Crota. The Hive Prince then took the bits of Vex and surrounded the new Oversoul, making it look like a cracked eye. The remaining bits were first corroded into a sick, jaded green, then attached to their selves, creating the armor that would distinguish them as the Spawn of Crota. The chunks of corroded brass and Radiolaria would form Crota's castle, his entrance into the universe. The sky changed from pitch black to poisonous sea-green. Crota gently landed at his own altar, on his two feet. Before, he thought that he would never make it home to his father. Before, all of his killings were done in the names of Oryx, Xivu Arath, and Savathun. Now, he himself has conquered the Vex Overlord and its realm. Now, the Hive Prince has become a deity alongside Omnigul and Yut. He looked at Yut and said, "Step forward, Yut." She floated to the Son of Oryx and bowed reverently. Crota continued, "By the power vested in me, I dub you the Deathsinger of Ruin. Rise Ir Yut, and claim your new title." She straightened her back, bowed once more, and floated away.

Omnigul stepped forward. "What about me?"

"You, my dear Omnigul, shall be my Will. Now, we will spawn an army, and we shall exterminate all that isn't Hive."

Omnigul nodded, and using their sorcery, they created 7 other lieutenants: the Fist and the Hand, the Eyes, the Heart, the Might, and the Sword. Simultaneously, the lesser Hive began to spawn, crawling out of the ground as marrow dust, but slowly taking their corporeal forms. Crota looked upon his new army. 'Now, to invade the Moon, and to take the Earth.'

His thoughts now were just as they were back then, 'Father, I have ascended!'