Delta B1 Ch11: The Core Part 2

The Core part 2 The guardians tore through the air as they fell into the deep. Eventually darkness consumed them and they could see nothing as they kept falling, and falling. The hole was miles deep. The other guardians began to wonder if they would ever reach the bottom. Delta, however, knew exactly where he was. Before leaving on this raid, he had read over all the notes of the fireteam that had killed Crota. They had measured the exact distance to the bottom, and Delta had calculated the amount of time it would take to reach the bottom given his body mass and air resistance. The exo curled his body in the air so that his feet now faced downward. They were nearly there. Beneath him began to form a soft, orange glow. Delta waited as the ground came rushing up to meet him. He had read from the notes that if you land on your feet, the combined pressure of the light and dark forces would soften the ground enough to survive the landing. Trusting in the words of previous guardians, Delta’s feet crashed into the earth and he went flying into a nearby rock. His back cracked the rock and he fell to the floor. The notes did not mention how painful the landing would be. The rest of the team soon experienced the same pain. They landed one by one as Delta got to his feet. They all began groaning in pain. “I have to admit…” said Ross. “I had second thoughts when I saw how fast I was coming at the floor.” Adriar grunted in agreement. Suddenly there was a loud crunch. “Guardian down!” called out a ghost. Everyone looked up to see Lassiter’s mangled body in the middle of the floor. “The fool landed face first!” observed Solomon. The Sunsinger’s ghost appeared and began reviving him. Lassiter’s body straightened out and he took in a deep breath, rolling onto his back. “I just willingly fell to my death…” he said, staring up into the darkness. “I guess I can scratch that off my bucket list.” Alex helped Lassiter up as Delta took a look around. They stood upon a metal circle, surrounded by large rocks with lamps hanging overhead. All around them was complete darkness. In the distance Delta could make out a shining blue pillar. Delta recalled the notes he had read. The pillars lead to Crota’s throne world, but Delta wanted to get to the core, which according to his calculations, was in the opposite direction. The exo turned to look behind him. There was nothing but darkness. Noticing the pillar, Adriar spoke up. “Is that where we are going?” he asked, pointing at the pillar. Delta shook his head. “No. We must go this way.” Delta pointed into the pitch black space behind them. Everyone stared into the dark. “Peachy,” said Lassiter. “This is where it gets tricky,” explained Delta. “The weight of darkness that surrounds us will smother our light, hindering basic movement. We will be forced to move slowly and we will be easy targets, which is why we will travel in a circular formation. This way we can keep an eye out on all sides and help one another should we be attacked.” Everyone nodded in agreement. “Let’s do it,” said Alex. “Alright,” said Delta. “I’ll step out first, then the rest of you follow in formation.” He carefully took a few steps forward outside of the circle. It was worse than he thought. The darkness was absolutely crushing. It was all Delta could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other. The Mida that he lifted in his hands felt like a stack of bricks. The team got into formation and they waded through the dark, towards the core. For several minutes they trudged on, the circle of light getting smaller and smaller behind them. Delta kept his focus split between the terrain ahead of him and the radar attachment on his Mida. The fireteam moved silently, listening for any disturbance. Suddenly a small flash appeared on Delta’s radar. “Stop!” he whispered harshly. The team froze as Delta peered into the nothingness ahead of him. “There’s movement ahead,” he said, still whispering. “Weapons ready.” They began to inch forward again, waiting for something, anything, to strike. The light behind them was nearly invisible now. It was just them and the dark. Delta kept his eyes glued to the radar. Whatever it was sensing was getting closer. That’s when Delta heard heavy footsteps. He looked up to see the silhouette of a massive beast emerge from the deep. “Ogre!” he shouted. The monster roared as the fireteam opened fire. Delta threw himself as hard as he could to the side, just barely missing a bright, purple beam of void energy. The weight of darkness greatly slowed his combat reflexes. The team scattered as the ogre charged forward. Underestimating his decreased mobility, Adriar tripped and fell. The ogre saw him and went in for the kill. It raised its massive fists, intending to crush Adriar, when suddenly a rocket flew directly into its face. BOOM! The ogre cried out as it disintegrated into nothing. Surprised, the team looked back to see Lassiter knelt beside a large rock, rocket launcher in hand. Solomon grinned. “Good shot, Lassy." “Yeah,” said Adriar. “I owe you one.” Lassiter waved his hand as he put away the launcher. “Oh, please,” he said. “It was nothing.” In the distance a low rumble could be heard, and the faint shrieking of Hive. “The thrall are coming!” shouted Delta. “We need to get to the next chamber NOW!” They pressed on against the darkness as fast as they could, the shrieking getting louder behind them. Ahead Delta could barely make out a massive door, covered in Hive runes. “No!” shouted the exo. The door was a complication. “Ghost, I need you to open this!” Delta’s ghost materialized before him. “Alright,” it said, “but you know the drill, this will take some time.” “Just get it done,” Delta growled. The ghost went to work while the guardians took cover behind various rock formations and took out their heavy weapons. The swarm was nearly there. As the ghost progressed, the runes on the door began to glow, bathing the area in an eerie, green light. Delta brandished his new machine gun, the Bonekruscher, and ripped the cocking handle backwards. Resting the weapon on a rock, Delta waited with the rest of the team. They grew quiet in anticipation. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/226335769/0/0]Part 3[/url] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/224417569?page=0&sort=0&showBanned=0&path=1]The Hub[/url]