[spoiler]Looking for a different chapter? Here's the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/205901906/0/0]Master Post.[/url][/spoiler][quote]BY ORDER OF THE CITY CONSENSUS AND THE GUARDIAN VANGUARD ALL SHIPS IMMEDIATE/REPEAT AND RELAY

We hereby terminate all organized combat operations on or around Earth's Moon.

Effective immediately we declare the existence of an interdiction on the Moon and cis-Lunar space. Guardians operating in this interdict will receive no formal support from the Vanguard or from assets of the City. We urge Guardians to exhibit the greatest care and consideration in approaching the interdicted space.

We furthermore derogate all strategic objectives concerned with the recovery of assets or information from the Lunar surface, and, without exemption, cancel in whole and in all its parts the effort to establish a beachhead and strategic presence upon the Moon.

This interdict will remain in effect until such time as the hostile presence on the Moon poses a demonstrable existential threat, or until intelligence is obtained that leads to the defeat of the enemy leadership elements recently encountered.

Guardians with an accurate assessment of losses in the recent days, or with intelligence on the nature and method of hostile resistance, should report to the Vanguard immediately for debriefing.[/quote] Avesk's ship flew through the sky, climbing higher and higher until they broke orbit. With the flick of a switch, Avesk activated his warp drive and the ship sped towards the moon at a tremendous speed. "Hope you two are excited." Avesk said. "We are the first Vanguard sponsored team to travel to the moon in a long, long time." Avesk deactivated the warp drive, and slowed the ship down to its regular speed. Eventually, they broke the moon's atmosphere and raced across the land and mountains. They came across an old moon base, built back during the Golden Age. They landed on the base campus. The ground was a soft gray dust, and the buildings were half-ruined. The white and orange paint had faded, along with the Old Chinese that labeled the buildings. The team dropped down next to one of the buildings. "The Anchor of Light." Avesk said, nodding with satisfaction. "This will be a good place to try and set up a Guardian base eventually." "Hold on a second." Cosmo interrupted. "Why don't we already have a base here? If we have enemies here, why is there no Guardian presence?" "Well," Avesk began, "It all started long ago, before I was reborn. Thousands of Guardians united to take back the moon in one victorious invasion." "And what happened?" Cosmo asked. "Crota happened." Avesk replied grimly. [quote]My name is Eriana-3, disciple of the Praxic Warlocks, marked by the Cormorant Seal. We came here under one banner, united in a host of thousands, to claim the Moon. But the battle goes against us. I have taken a prisoner and this is the record of its interrogation. If I transgress in your eyes I ask for your forgiveness. [sound of current or discharge] /Eriana. It responds to pain. It responds to the Light. Hurt it again. Monster, heed me. Who is your master with the sword? [static event] I can hear it. In my head. The swordbearer's name is CROTA. Record that. /Should I burn it again? No. I think you're only feeding it. I will touch its mind. Ghost - help. They call you Wizard. You must be ancient. I think you value power very much. Will you still be powerful without this piece of your mind? Tell me how to kill Crota. [static event] It showed me the battle. It showed me Wei Ning dead on Crota's blade. It showed me how Crota killed a Guardian with a screaming knife hammered out of his own Ghost. So I will take a piece of its mind, and ask again. Tell me how to kill Crota. [static event] Incredible. Where? Where is his throne? Where is the twilight world under the dead star eye? /Eriana there's word from the company in Mare Imbrium. Crota is upon them. Half a hundred dead. They need us. Tell me where! Tell me how! TELL ME! [static event] /Eriana what did it say - It showed me how it did this, just exactly this, to an Awoken man, the knives arranged by its will, like little silver ships, like Ghosts - It laughed at me. It said we were the same. /Crota marches with a thousand Knights and they say the sky above Mare Imbrium has turned into green fire. They are dying in numbers I cannot bear to repeat. He kills them one by one with a sword that eats their Light. Eriana, we have to do something - Kill the Wizard. Scatter the ash. It has nothing but lies to offer. Get your Sparrows. We have Light and fury. That will be enough.[/quote] "Crota rose from the abyss and attacked the Guardians legions with a massive army. He had a blade so dark it drained the Light of its victims. He was un-killable. Nearly all of the Guardians that traveled to the moon died. After the event, named the Great Disaster, took place, the Vanguard and the Consensus terminated all Guardian operations in the moon, effectively abandoning it and leaving it for the Hive. Since then, the Hive have had hundreds of years to gather new broods and raise new armies. I'm not sure what we'll find in the tunnels, but it won't be good." Avesk entered an elevated building that was cylindrical in shape and walked over to a terminal near the center. "I just need to see if they have any records of- ah! Here we go." Avesk summoned his Ghost. "Barry, could you please pull those files out of that computer? Thanks." Barry floated over and accessed the computer. "Okay." He said a moment later. "I've got all the files." Avesk nodded, satisfied. "Now we have a map of the entire area. Any places of interest nearby, Barry?" "Well, there's a temple dedicated to Crota nearby." Barry said. "That's a good place to start." Avesk replied. He jumped out of a hole in the building and hit the ground. Validus and Cosmo followed suit. The group headed to the left, down a small path and through a short, narrow canyon. After a short while, the path opened up to a clearing, with a Hive temple looming ominously in the distance. Avesk pulled out a sniper rifle and looked through the scope. "Okay," He said, "I'm not seeing any Hive here. The door to the temple is locked tight, and I don't really feel like opening it. Let's check somewhere else. Anywhere else there might be Hive, Barry?" "There's a massive Hive base called the Hellmouth nearby. It's a bit further away, but it shouldn't take too long to get there." "Okay, let's link our Sparrows to the vehicle grid and then we can head over there. The team headed back to the Anchor of Light and linked their sparrows. Then they summoned them and headed for the Hellmouth. They drove up and over large chunks of displaced rock until they reached their destination. A massive hole in the moon's surface. "Wow." Validus' Ghost said as it appeared and observed the sight. "That must extend down for miles. Maybe even to the moon's center." "Then it's a good bet that we'll find Hive nearby." Avesk replied, "I'm seeing an entrance to their fortress nearby. I'll sneak in, take out any Hive there if I can manage it, and then you can follow." After a short sparrow drive, they reached the entrance. They approached the hole in the fortress' wall. "Stay here." Avesk said to the others. He crouched for a moment before he disappeared from their sight with a sharp snap. A moment later, his voice came up over the comms. "Okay, you can move up. There weren't any Hive." The group moved further down through the moon's vast tunnels, meeting no resistance. They came to a small room, accentuated by the giant chains in the center. The chains extended down through the flow and occasionally rattled. Avesk frowned, but said nothing and the team continued their exploration of the Hive's fortress. The further through the tunnels they moved, the more the very rocks themselves seemed to whisper to them. Eventually their tunnel opened up to a large cavern extending far above, below and out in almost every direction. A small bridge looped around a small rock formation before plunging back into the enclosed passageways. A massive roar sounded as the team got halfway across the bridge. It echoed, slowly growing more and more faint into finally, the sound faded entirely. "That can't be a good sign." Cosmo said. "What I'm even more concerned about is the fact that we haven't seen a single Hive this entire time." Avesk said. Yet again, they traveled deeper and deeper into the moon until they came upon the Circle of Bones: A massive section of the Hive fortress, looping around the inside edge of the Hellmouth. Hive Acolytes marched in patrols around the area, Wizards floated to and fro, and Knights stood guard at nearly every doorway. Hive dropships appeared through cuts in space itself, and dropped more troops before disappearing through another portal. "We need to get back and warn the Tower." Avesk said. "The Hive are going to invade the Earth." [quote]Click [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212229474/0/0]here[/url] for the next chapter[/quote]