Here is Part Two of my Into the Hellmouth fanfic, the story of Eris's fireteam. Here is Part one if you didn't read it: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/186963421/0/0 FYI, if you're looking for more cool writing like this, I'd highly recommend you check out this post by PsycheDriver: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/196981487/0/0 He's a really talented and prolific author, and deserves any praise you can heap upon him! In the meantime, let the story of Eris's fireteam continue! The fireteam marched along the moon’s darkened surface. As they walked, they passed buildings and machinery, all of it covered in Chinese glyphs. One such building had a tube sticking out of it. The tube ran for miles upon miles, across Luna’s barren surface. It had been built in the early 23rd Century by Chinese scientists, who used the particle accelerator to revolutionize human understanding of traditional physics. But it was far more than a simple machine. To all of humanity - and especially to the Chinese - it stood a testament to what humanity had accomplished. To what the Traveler had brought. A monument to the exploration and colonization of a surface beyond Earth’s own atmosphere. People looked at it, and thought, If we can do that, we can do anything. Now, the accelerator was a monument once more - a monument to the fall of the Earthlings. Their once-great cities lay in ruin, the sole survivors cowering for dear life as they huddled beneath the shadow of a broken God. The symbolism was not lost on the Guardians, who had vowed to take back the land that their ancestors had conquered. So they went to the moon in droves, ready to reclaim this ancient symbol of triumph. Eriana-3 had been among them. She went with her brothers and sisters to take the dark side of the moon for the Light once again. But how could they have anticipated the horror that awaited them? How could they have prepared for Crota? Wei-Ning had been a titan, and, as his name suggested, was Chinese in origin. His ancestors may have been among those that built the ancient accelerator, though he couldn’t know for sure. To many Guardians, Wei-Ning was a hero - a stalwart defender of the Light. Tales abounded throughout the city of the thousands of Fallen and Hive that he had killed. To many, he was a legend. But to Eriana, he was so much more. Wei-Ning had saved Eriana’s life once, when she was first resurrected by her ghost. A fallen Walker had had her pinned down, with no weapons, no training, and no hope. But Ning flew in on his ship, and jumped down to her. He said once sentence to her - “Are you alive?” Eriana didn’t answer, because she didn’t know. All her exo-brain had understood was that she was surrounded by creatures that she didn’t recognize, that the strange object that called itself “ghost” said that she was now a guardian, and that her only memories were more shadow than light. Ning hadn’t waited for the answer. He’d tossed her a weapon - a hand cannon, if she remembered correctly - and then leaped into the fray. He’d grabbed a shotgun, and shot his way through the pack of Fallen until he’d reached the Walker. Ignoring the onslaught of wire rifles and shock pistols, he’d jumped on top of it, and ripped open the hatch. Then he’d jumped inside, and the walker went still. Then it exploded in a blaze of fire that forced Eriana to look away. But when she looked back, she saw a dazed Wei-Ning emerge from the burning wreckage. She’d noticed a nearby Vandal taking aim at him with it’s wire rifle. The sight of that Vandal triggered something within her - she began to judge the wind speed, how far the bullet would fall, the distance to the target, the place likely to take it out as quickly as possible. So stepped out from behind cover, took aim, and fired one bullet. Then another. And another. And another. And another. She fired until the magazine went dry, at which point her ghost resupplied her with ammunition, and she continued her onslaught, every bullet landing with deadly precision. She didn’t know who killed the last of the Fallen - her or Ning. But eventually, only the two Guardians were standing. The Vanguard had been quite impressed by Wei-Ning’s heroic rescue mission, and even more so by Eriana’s uncanny ability for combat. It especially surprised Zavala that a Warlock should show so much skill with weapons. But Ning’s question to her - “Are you alive?” - continually prodded at her. Technically speaking, the question was a philosophical one - Could a robot of any kind truly be considered alive? - and a statement of their lifestyle - Did life as an eternal soldier constitute living? - but whenever she was with Ning, she knew the answer. Yes. Ning and she had bonded over time, always running strikes and scouting missions together. They were not romantic - she was not sure what their relationship had been - but they were more than “just” friends. And she would have her vengeance on the beast that had taken him. When the Guardians had launched their operation to retake the moon, Wei-Ning was the obvious choice to lead the assault. His battlefield talents had gained him respect among the tower’s guardians, with even the notoriously proud Sunbreakers begrudgingly admitting that he showed great skill in the art of war. At the time, the Vanguard knew precious little of the Hive. Scouting parties to the moon had produced precious little intel on Hive leadership, and the most knowledgeable guardians has fallen into ill-repute. Toland had long since been forced into exile, and as for Dregden Yor, well, no one wanted to follow in his path. However, recent incursions to earth by the Hive had forced the Vanguard’s hand - the Fallen were problematic enough, they didn’t need to worry about an attack from the Hive. Thousands of guardians - the largest force ever assembled by the Tower - flew to Luna, seeking to take back what was theirs. But the lack of intel on the Hive worried Ning. He had made repeated requests to seek out Toland, arguing that any intel gained from the deranged warlock outweighed any harm his ramblings could cause in the City. Ikora had backed him up - saying that it was “about time that a titan started thinking like a warlock” - but that only angered Zavala more, and the Speaker remained all too leery of Toland’s obsession with the Darkness. At the time, Eriana had thought that Toland was a brilliant man who’d gone too far. It was the nature of Warlocks to be inquisitive, but they were supposed to focus their studies on the Light - not the Darkness. Toland’s obsessions with the Hive, combined with the stories of Dregden Yor, made even the most curious of Warlocks balk at the prospect of having him walk in the Tower. The topic of Toland was the source of the some of the few fights between her and Ning. Wei-Ning couldn’t understand how a Warlock would pass up an opportunity to learn more about their enemy, but Eriana didn’t understand why Ning couldn’t see the danger of allowing the deranged warlock to wander through the tower. But if only she’d known what lurked under Luna’s surface . . . if only Ning were still alive. Edit: Here's part 3: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/197788326 Edit 2: Apparently, some of the story didn't get copied when I originally posted this, so I put it back in here. Sorry, but it should be good now! :D