It’s been too long, but finally I’m here with William’s journey into the Vault of Glass. This raid makes for a huge amount of writing, so I am breaking the raid into 3 chapter. The Well, The Maze, and Time’s Conflux. Here’s hoping my posting schedule improves, and that you all enjoy the beginning of this perilous adventure [i]Chapter Twenty Two: The Well Part One[/i] “That’s a big door,” John observed. Sierra laid prone to my right on the boulder I was crouched on, and our Ghosts floated between us. Drew stood behind the stone so he wouldn’t be seen and because he wasn’t interested in stealthy spying, while Sally kept him company to keep him from charging mindlessly in his boredom. On the other side of a field and atop a cliff made almost completely of Vex architecture, both occupied by more boulders and Vex blocks as well as the Vex themselves, rested a gigantic circular doorway embebed into the face of the wall. “How do we get in?” another Ghost asked, drawing my attention to the Guardians on my left. Guardian himself was right next to me, and his Ghost had been the one questioning. Past him was a female Warlock who was fingering her rifle eagerly and a male Hunter who was scraping the rock impatiently with his knife. These two were the ones who had completed numerous Vanguard Strikes alongside Guardian, so they had joined us at his request. I knew near nothing of them or their skills yet, but they were obviously experienced and we needed a full raid team for this. Like Guardian they had not remembered their names or come up with any for themselves, so I had taken to calling them Warlock and Hunter. Oddly enough, they had been calling our Titan friend ‘Guardian’ as well. “Well, we’re kinda going to knock,” I tried simplifying for the sake of my comrades. I was tense and my eyes were riveted on the door. “Your plan to get into this Vex Box of Whatever is to knock?” Sierra criticized. “Well that’s worked for us before,” Guardian’s Warlock friend pointed out. Hunter chuckled at that, and Guardian seemed amused as well. “It’s the Vault of Glass,” I corrected, “And there’s only one way in that we can perform ourselves, hopefully without any losses.” Unfortunately, the Stranger hadn’t been very helpful when I had asked her about the Vault in the Tower. She hadn’t even told me if there was another way inside, and had only pointed me towards a couple of sources of information. Luckily, those sources provided much more insight. “Jeez Will, it’s just another Vex block,” Drew sighed, pulling at plants while sitting behind us, “You got out of that flower place just fine.” “We barely made it through there, and only one person has ever escaped the Vault before,” I recounted, “He didn’t even make it out with his mental stability.” “Escaped?” Warlock repeated. “Getting in is the easy part,” I explained, “Once you’re in you don’t just leave.” “What a bunch of FWC crap,” Hunter scoffed, “Eh, no offense purple buddy.” “None taken,” Drew seemed like he hadn’t even been paying enough attention to know what had been offensive. “Stop trying to scare us, Will,” Sierra grumbled, “This is everyday for us.” “You don’t understand!” I snapped, making everyone finally grow quiet and still in surprise, “This place kills people! It kills Guardians!” I rested my helmet-covered head in my hands in a mix of fearful anticipation and frustration. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Guardian giving me a reassuring look that was conveyed even through his helmet. “Look guys,” I took a shaky breath, “I only asked any of you to come here because this is an emergency. I don’t want to lose anyone.” “Hey, we’re tougher than we look,” Sierra punched my shoulder lightly, “And we’ve got you leading us.” I looked at her and then to the three Guardians on my left. They were all watching me patiently. “Okay,” I sighed, trying to relax a bit, “Remember everyone, we… Drew, are you listening?” “Huh? Oh,” I heard Drew scramble to his feet behind me, “Yep, listening.” “Remember everyone,” I started again, “The Vex will be everywhere and they’ll be ready. Once we’re inside do not separate or even lose sight of everyone else. Be ready for anything and watch each other’s backs.” Everyone seemed to get the instructions, so I stood up on the boulder. The others stood with me and Drew climbed up next to us. I had already warned him not to rush into anything, so the purple-clad Titan waited while shifting on his feet eagerly. “So do we go up to the door and beat the guards or what?” Hunter asked. “Not that kind of knock,” I pointed at the door, then to the top of a Vex block on our right that formed part of the cliff, and finally to an enclosure of Vex design to our left that led up to the doorway, “There are Vex Sync Plates we need to activate. Rush found them up there, there, and over there.” “So we step on the doorbells,” Warlock seemed disappointed. “Uh, yeah, I suppose that’s the best analogy,” I replied, “But it should take awhile for the door to open, and the Vex will try to take back control.” “At least we get to fight something,” Hunter remarked. “Wouldn’t want it to be too easy,” Warlock agreed. “I’m liking you two more by the minute,” Sierra beamed. “The Vex here will be stronger models,” I informed, “Be careful and don’t let them step inside the Sync Plates, otherwise they’ll probably reset them and make us start over completely.” “What a chore,” Rush grumbled. “You don’t even have to do anything,” John scoffed. “But I still have to sit by and watch,” Rush pointed out. “Teams of two will be best,” I mused, “Guardian and I can get the center Plate, Sierra and Warlock can have the right, and Drew and Hunter on the left. That’s alright?” “Long as the big man doesn’t screw up,” Hunter gave Drew a sidelong glance. “We’re going to show you sorry boys up,” Warlock laughed, granting an agreeing nod from Sierra. Guardian gave me a thumbs up. “Okay… and sorry, but you guys are okay with being called Hunter and Warlock, right?” I checked with our new allies, “If there’s anything you’d prefer…” “Don’t worry about it,” Warlock waved her hand dismissively. “Better than getting mixed up calling us all Guardian,” Hunter muttered. “Good,” I turned my attention back to the task at hand, “Left team, you can charge straight to your side. Right team, you should climb up to the middle with us using that big Vex block and then run over the cliff to your side.” “Let’s go,” Warlock jumped down from our perch with a pulse rifle in hand and began running ahead. “I hate it when she does that,” Hunter sighed, then leapt away with Drew on his tail. The rest of us followed Warlock and joined up with her as we met Vex resistance. There were only a few Hobgoblins and Goblins between us, so we were able to jump up onto the block without much trouble and then use it to jump over the remaining Vex below and reach the cliff top. As Sierra and Warlock split up from us, I looked back to see that Drew and Hunter had cleared the Vex around their Sync Plate and were watching us. A low hum brought my attention to Guardian, who had activated our Plate by stepping into its ring on the ground. A short field of white light that formed squares was growing around the edge of the ring. “Step on your Plates everyone,” I directed, jumping up onto a short Vex column right next to our own Plate. Watching the others through the scope of my scout rifle, I saw the same matrix form around each of their Plates. After a few seconds they all stopped at a preset height, and at that moment a web of white light sprung to life in the middle of the space below the cliff and between the three Plates. “It’s building something,” Guardian’s Ghost observed. Ch21, Heart Attack: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/247349583/0/0 Ch22 Pt2: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/249614161/0/0 ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0