[b]The Space Between Seconds[/b] [i]A fiction of the transition between Normal and Hard – By Oneiro[/i] In my opinion, the story in this game has left some holes. I like to think they are there for the community to fill. This would be my attempt of elaborating on the mundane task of switching from Normal to Hard on the orbital menu. Hope you enjoy! Thanks to my clan for letting me use their names, as I lack the ability to spin them from thin air. Used Greek mythology and the Grimoire cards for inspiration. Part 2 [url]http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/73369430/0/0[/url] TLDR – Lots of words making up a story! Sources: The Villain [url]http://destiny-grimoire.info/#Card-109080[/url] Gorgons [url]http://destiny-grimoire.info/#Card-603025[/url] Atheon [url]http://destiny-grimoire.info/#Card-603070[/url] Sol Progeny [url]http://destiny-grimoire.info/#Card-504150[/url] Vault of Glass [url]http://destiny-grimoire.info/#Card-603020[/url] The Relic [url]http://destiny-grimoire.info/#Card-603080[/url] Supper Good Advice [url]http://destiny-grimoire.info/#Card-304060[/url] *** [b]THE LONE EXO[/b] strode from the tent checking the AVO connections at his temples for damage. “$%^&ing Cryptarch.” He muttered, half wishing the man would hear him. “He should probably realize that we exos still feel the pain of a memory fragment being ripped from our minds.” He clinches his fist in frustration at the rewards that were unencrypted from the mayhem. “I’ve seen this trash before from him.” [I]“That’s what the engram says.”[/I] The parrot would report. “Idiot.” But he strode on. The pain receded as he marched passed the ships coming into port. That sound had always put his processes at ease. For as long as storage would permit, there was something that organized the chaotic loops and strings in his processors. Something about the sound of coming and going, the sounds of a populous making a foothold. His team had often talked of beaches, the sounds of water lapsing on the shores. He thought this must have been what they experienced. ‘Well the seas are acid now, have fun with those, I’ll stick to my ships.’ He chucked to himself. He bounds up the steps to the meeting room, stopping for a moment to pay homage to the plaque on the door. The familiar brass [HYPE] stood in front of him. As he breached the threshold, he realized the team was already waiting for him. Doc and Lord were vizzed in from another world. Likely Mars. Moose and Turbo both stood at the desk on the far wall with schematics and schedules they had produced strewn out on the screen in front of them, barely noticing he had walked in. The rest lounged around the casual meeting space, waiting on pins and needles for the marching orders they were ready to jump at. They had heard the buzz. They had been through this place before. But this time is different, they had been assured. “Console, Secure Room.” The exo spoke the command, and the box center mounted to the ceiling instantly hummed to life. The windows making up the far wall instantly turned opaque. The door made an audible clunk, as the latch was secured in place. The men all turned their gaze, as he averted his to the security monitors that had come up showing the exterior perimeter of the room. No signs of prying eyes and ears, he thought to himself. “Console, Project.” With that an orb of light appeared in the middle of the room. “Take File.” Turbo said from the other side; their plans disappeared from the surface of the desk and an itemized list appeared in the globe. Moose strode up and selected one with the touch of his finger. A projection of the relic now hovered at eye level. The exo walked up from the security monitors, and all eyes were on him. “As you know, last time we were in the Vault. We gave Turbo here a chance to examine the relic. And we think we have made a breakthrough. Turbo…” “We have.” Turbo continued. “We think we made a breakthrough when examining the material the relic itself is crafted from. As we know, a Gorgon has been destroyed only once in known history, by Kabr himself. These entities have the ability to manipulate time, and write dangerous codes with the structure of space time itself. –“ “But what we couldn’t grasp,” Moose interjected, “was how the relic was able to disrupt the systems the Vex use for traveling through time. We believe now, that this act is primarily triggered by the Gorgons themselves. Atheon may be the one pulling the trigger. But the lynchpin is the Gorgons.” “What we found, was that the relic itself, is crafted from the pieces of a fallen Gorgon.” “Bullshit.” Chirped the projection of Lord from Mars. “We found a weak link? One of the Gorgons can be felled?” “We believe so.” Turbo responded. “Kabr seems to have used their own technology against them. Crafting the relic out of light itself to be the bastion against the Vex. We believe that’s why each time we vanquish Atheon, everything seems suspended, like they were never there to begin with. We believe it is the Gorgons we never kill that respond to Atheon’s final command, and revert them to a different point in time. Which, as we know, appears to be precisely at 2:00AM, universal time on Tuesday mornings.” “Seems a little random… and regular,” Lord prodded again. “Like much with the Vex, they seem to adhere to a pattern, seemingly hinting that they have limitations. Which has led us to believe that if we are able to use the relic in a way we haven’t before, we may be able to meet them in this hypothetical future, and strike while Atheon is… recharging, if you will.” He pauses, seemingly for dramatic effect. “To do this, we must use the relic to slay the current embodiment of that same Gorgon slayed many years ago by Kabr. Then ride the realignment of the Vex to the destination.” Glassy eyes, and perplexed glances around the room. Everyone seems to be staring at Moose and Turbo with the same confused puppy expression. Heads theatrically tiled slightly to the side. Right up until the room erupts into a combination of laughter, and conversational commotion. “Oh and how are you suggesting we go about killing one of these creatures? Not to mention riding this realignment to the Vex hiveminds destination?” Doc asked, more rhetorically than not. The commotion grew, as side conversations turned into arguments. The exo watched from the head of the circle as his team disseminated into a mob. He thought about the ships coming into port. “I am going to slay Medusa.” he stated over the commotion. The team stopped their arguments, and turned their eyes to their leader. “Are you familiar with the mythology of the Gorgons from the ancient times?” He gathered from their silence that they weren’t. “According to the ancient Greeks, the Gorgons were three sisters. Monsters that patrolled our lands. Conquerors and kings alike sought the destruction of these beasts to no avail. No avail until the hero Perseus was armed by the Gods and sent after Medusa, the sole mortal sister. Armed with a reflective shield, a curved sword, and a helm that shielded his movements. He was able to behead the creature that turns you to stone if a single glance is exchanged. “We have evaded the Gorgons before.” He continued. “Kabr was able to kill one, we shall follow in his footsteps and slay the same sister. Our tactic shall be our helm, our rifles from previous kills shall be our swords, the relic our shield, and Kabr our god. As Perseus once destroyed Medusa, and Kabr after that, we shall prevail with our own little algorithm. History in dealing with the Vex lets us know that they replace units as they fall. Likely through the manipulation of time. While Bravo is dealing with Atheon, and once we are able to merge the relics hidden by the Gatekeeper. I am going to slip back into the maze with one of its versions, and use it to slay Medusa.” He paused again gauging their responses. He paused a little longer wondering if they thought he was sane. He shook the thought from his processors and continued, “While Bravo Team is fighting Atheon for the one tenth time on Sunday. I will be laying-in-wait at Medusa. When the Vex go to travel, I will be there, anchoring them to our time. Where Alpha Team will be waiting for them, next Tuesday. To slay him, while he is vulnerable to travel.” A long silence came over the group again. Perplexed glances danced around the room. Fear started to take hold at what they were discussing. Was an end to the plague of the Vex possible? The silence was once again broken by the cheap seats on Mars. “Let me get this straight.” Lord chimed in with a matter-of-fact tone. “On Sunday, we are going to kill Atheon like we do every Sunday. Except you are going to slay the modern embodiment of an ancient monster known to turn people to stone at a glance. All in an effort to use a shield crafted by a long-dead titan to ride some theoretical bubble to a time when you can catch Atheon on his heels. Where the “time traveling you” (he used air quotes for this portion, along with some heavy sarcasm) and Alpha are going to fight Atheon again while he, and his now dead time traveling monster, are going to be reeling and incapable of putting us into stasis and vanishing like normal?” “With one caveat,” the exo added. “Do tell.” “Atheon will likely be a little more eager to protect himself from the likelihood of extinction.” “And one more time for those of us that speak English.” “He, and his minions, will likely be more motivated.” “English. Pretend I’m five.” “I usually do. They will be harder. Much harder.” Another long pause came over the group as the summation sunk in. “Well!” Lord exclaimed… loudly… startling those still digesting. “Sounds like borderline suicide, with a heavy air of guesswork, topped with a leap of faith. Count me in.”