Welcome to the finale of Sons of Phoros. This post contains parts 1 and 2 out of 4 in the finale. The second half will come tomorrow. Masterpost: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/253000143/0/0 [b]Part 1[/b] “Damocles.” Arcturus walked up to the chassis with a mind core in his hands. The massive Vex’s arms were pinned to the wall, and its head hung low, “I have gathered all of the modules you desire. The time has come. Awaken.” He looked back at the mass of mote banks behind him and smiled. “So, where are we gonna find Arcturus? Wasp said he just knew that he was somewhere on Venus. That doesn’t exactly narrow it down.” Auva tapped the floor of her jumpship with her foot impatiently. “I don’t think we need any more specifics. Look here.” Procyon observed as a massive sinkhole opened up near the base of Maat Mons, the largest volcano on the planet. As the team sped toward the site, Lacer patched into a private communications channel. “Ascella, you there?” “Yeah!” Her voice fired back, “what’s up?” “Hey, um, you pretty much know everything now. Right?” “About Orion? I do…” “And you know how I’m probably gonna get locked up if we stop Arcturus.” “WHEN we stop Arcturus. Don’t worry, Lacer. To be honest, I felt kind of betrayed when I found out about everything you did, but listen to me. As long as all the time we spent together was genuine, you don’t have to regret any of it.” Lacer rubbed his eyes, “but I don’t deserve it. Wasp got what was coming to him because of me, too. I should be dead. Hell, I was worse than him, for all I know.” “Lacer, you’re different from him. You chose to change, but he didn’t. You’re a good person. I believe in you. No matter what you may have been, I love the person that you chose to become.” “I-” Lacer was cut short by a broadcast from Zahir. “That Vex mind crawling out of the ground. It has to be Damocles. We know that Arcturus is behind its awakening, and we know that it’s capable of intense simulative power. That’s all. Ready up. We’re going to intercept and kill Damocles.” “Wait!” Auva decreased the speed of her ship as the Vex mind began to float away, disregarding the fleet of jumpships approaching it. “It’s… going away?” Ascella glued her face to the window of her cockpit. Arcturus floated out of the sinkhole behind it with a single mote bank in tow. It rumbled and shook violently with dark energy. Damocles turned, and in one swift motion, it swept one of its arms at the warlock. Before it could connect a blow, its arm was stopped by a blast of void energy. Arcturus fought back. “Why are they fighting each other? Aren’t they in kahoots!?” Lacer watched, bewildered, as Arcturus defended himself from Damocles’ attacks. “Don’t you know the first thing about Vex? They’re going to be connected to the network. Always.” Auva watched in intrigue as the fleet began flying around the battle. “The sister-mind is fighting back. What a useless gesture.” Arcturus deflected Damocles’ arm with another blast of void energy then turned to his bank with a mote in hand. He slammed it into a triangular receptacle on the cylinder, and it flared to life. It shot a pitch dark beam into the sky, and it cleaved the air open. “Did he just open the ascendant realm!?” Zahir continued to circle the scene as a three-fingered hand descended from the wound in the sky. The wound bled to the ground, and an astral void of Taken energy swept across the yellow rocks and blue pools in its path. “So that’s why he needed motes…” Auva landed on the ground, along with the rest of the fireteam. The Vex mind turned away at the sight of the massive hand, but Arcturus had already cut off its path. The hand, glowing white, grabbed Damocles like it was nothing but a toy. “Arcturus! What the hell are you trying to do!?” Zahir ran at the warlock. His feet sparked with arc energy as the others shot at the colossal fingers entrapping Damocles. It lifted the mind up, and the world turned a blinding white. “You have lost.” The warlock’s voice boomed, “my eternal slumber begins with you, Zahir-2. We will destroy all life in this wretched system, so that nobody may ever be in pain again.” … =You. Are. Hurting.= “Huh?” =You. Are. In. Pain.= “Me? Where am I? Where are the others? What happened?” =Zahir. 2. You. Have. Suffered. All. Your. Life. Uxar. Thuban. Kale. 8. Heather. Vira. Saiph. You. Lived. Through. Their. Deaths. As. The. Sole. Survivor. Alone.= “What are you talking about? How do you know that?” =What. Would. You. Think. Of. A. World. Without. Pain?= “I don’t know.” Zahir’s vision went white again, and he felt a hard surface on his face. “Mr. B! Hey, Mr. B!” A familiar voice called out to him, but it seemed different. Higher. “Mr. B, you takin’ a nap before class? You’re lucky the big man’s taking a stroll around the math department right now. Wake up!” “Lacer?” Zahir let out groggily as he opened his eyes. He was in a classroom. =His classroom=. He looked at the =familiar= tile floor, the sand green cabinets, the desks bound to chairs by metal bars, and =his own= desk. It was new, but it felt =familiar=. The nameplate in front of him read, “=Mr. Benetnasch=.” [b]Part 2 - Mr. Benetnasch[/b] “Who are you callin’ Lacer? Is that a new nickname?” The tall boy in front of him put his hands on his hips, “you gotta get more sleep, Mr. B.” “Of course. My bad, Lucas.” Zahir pushed his =glasses= up and opened his desk drawer to pull out a stack of notes. The last of =his class= began to pour in as 8:20 AM drew near. He took note of the =familiar= faces in his class. “Eltanin,” he thought, “=no, that’s Ellie. Ellie Fidi, not to be confused with Ellie Gartner=. Ascella, no, =Ashley, Ellie Fidi’s best friend=. =Ava=, not Auva, and =her childhood friend= Procyon. No. =Proctor is his name=.” He re-familiarized himself with his class as he placed a note sheet on each of their desks. Many of them looked tired. Some chatted, some talked, some were busy with their smartphones, and some were having a snack before class. =Of course=, Zahir allowed his students to do so. As he walked back to his desk to stow the extra sheets that remained in his hand, the bell rang. He waited for its monotonous tone to conclude as he turned the projector in the middle of the room on on his way back. “All right, class. Since today’s an assembly day, we’re going to jump right into our notes. This is the last chapter of material that’s going to be on the test.” He hit a button on his laptop, and the projector screen behind him began displaying a slideshow. It read, “World War 1: The Armistice.” He read off of his notes, occasionally mixing in =his own= bit of knowledge for the students to write down, to ensure they were paying attention. =Of course=, he saw Lucas asking for answers from Ashley, who reluctantly agreed. “Private Henry Gunther was struck down by the Germans in the last minute of the war, at 10:59. He was the last casualty of World War One. Gunther is still a topic of debate today. Was he a selfless soul that was willing to fight for his country to the end? Or did he sacrifice himself to prove a point?” Zahir finished his last comment as the bell rang again. Many of the students had already packed most of their belongings at this point. He looked over to Lucas’ desk, and, =sure enough=, the boy was the only one remaining in the classroom. He was in the frantic process of piling his belongings, of which there were many, into his backpack. “There. You better get going now.” Zahir helped Lucas pack the last of his belongings away. “Whew. Thanks, Mr. B. This is why you’re my favorite teacher.” Lucas whipped the backpack around his seat and pulled it up. “Because I make your passing periods convenient?” Zahir walked back to his desk. “No, ‘cause even though you’re as old as a fossil, you really do care about your students.” Lucas quickly walked to the door and swung it open. “Thank you, Lucas.” Zahir watched as he exited the room before popping his head back in. “Oh, uh, just making sure. You’ve got tutoring after school today, right?” “Yes. Though I doubt you need it, or that you’d want to stick around on a Friday.” Lucas nodded and disappeared behind the door as Zahir’s next class walked into the classroom. The day went on, and Zahir was left in his classroom doing administrative work as the students left school for the weekend. He ignored the =voice= in his head, which asked him odd questions. To his surprise, the door to his room opened, and Lucas walked in. He looked up at the silent boy. “Is this unit hard for you? You’re usually-“ Lucas was followed by several students from his other classes. One of them held a small white box, and the other held a large paper bag. “Surprise, Mr. Benetnasch! No way we’d forget about your birthday! I mean, it’s tomorrow, but we don’t like you THAT much.” Lucas joked.