"All teams, check in," I said over the radio.
"Breach team, ready," Rhino replied.
"Illusion team, ready," Cybis said.
"As are we," I heard Luna say, speaking through Nolandroid's radio. "Even if my adoptive brothers aren't happy about it."
"Yeah, well tell them I said to deal with it," I said as I made sure my bow and arrow-the bow made of a special metal with gold trimming at the edge, the string not really there, but rather a magnetic force- were ready for combat, along with the Taken sword. "Everyone ready?"
It's been a few days since Celestia, Luna, Lone, and myself had discussed what we were going to do and Harmony giving her help. With it, we had found the base of the damned cult- actually where Ponyville would be in a thousand years. We had put together a plan of attack along with this timeline's Oryx, and myself, Luna, Celestia, Rhino, Cybis, and Lone were in groups with Hive Boomer Acolytes and Knights, along with blade Knights.
The funny thing? Yesterday, as Rhino, Cybis, and I were going over the final portions of the plan, Oryx, sized to his physical, non-ascendant realm (see: how he appears in cut scenes) form. Needless to say, this made the three of us jump. "The hell?" Rhino nearly yelled before instinctively reaching for a shotty.
Oryx glared at him before speaking. "If I came here to kill you three, I would have done so already, and much more subtly to make it look as if those cultists killed you."
"So, why are you here?" I asked him. "I doubt it's something to help us. I figure those swords are the only things you're willing to give."
"Under other circumstances, you would be correct, mote," the Taken King replied. "But I sensed an abomination within the area you plan to attack, something I am not familiar with."
"And why tell us this?" Cybis asked.
"Because the only part of it I am able to recognize is the Light, and it is on the scale of you three."
"And why tell us that?" I asked.
"Because I also sense the same amount of Darkness around it as what Crota described when three fused yesterday." Short version is cultist incursion; Rhino, Cybis, and I were tired and we wanted sleep, so we just decided to nuke 'em with Darkness energy.
This made me look at the others. "You think-"
"Hey, he's working for our version of Oryx," Rhino said. "'Least, he was. Still, wouldn't surprise me."
"Agreed," Cybis said.
"I assume you have an idea as to this?" Oryx asked.
"Yeah," I replied, "but we aren't entirely certain."
Oryx scoffed. "Still, I expect you will keep my blood safe?"
"If we have anything to say about it," i replied with a head bow.
"Good." And with that, he vanished, but, as he did, I felt, well, I don't know, something in me, close to where I often felt the Light when activating my abilities.
Anyway, back to present. "Dinkle, Tara, what's it look like in there?"
"Guards with spears and swords augmented with lightning," Tara replied.
"So nothing too difficult?"
"Not to begin with," Dinklebot replied.
"Then let's get started," I muttered. "All teams, move in." I then looked back at the small group of Acolytes and Knights behind me. "You all want to become Ascendant?! Then come on!" I yelled at them, making them roar at the prospect of becoming Ascendant-thank you Toland's journal and Books of Sorrow that Xivu gave me for that little bit of Hive knowledge- as I lead them toward the main target, a building that looked like a three story store-house that most likely had underground rooms. Really wish I had Invective right now.
Aw well. Anyway, when we reached there, I threw a specially made grenade filled with a special type of acid that ate through the walls of the place, and allowed my group entry into it, and I saw the other groups follow suite. Though Rhino just shoulder charged through the wall. Sure, why not?
Upon entering, I strung an arrow, took aim, drew back, and fired at the first yellow robed pony I saw, nailing him to the wall with an arrow in his head. I then took the knife on my left gauntlet in my right hand, flipped it to where I was holding the tip, and impaled another pony in the head with it. "Hunters for the win," I said to Rhino and Cybis over comms.
"Bullshit," they both said. "Titans have the most armor. We're the damned reason you all have any chance in the field!"
"Which class has the ability to self res, again?" Cybis retorted as i heard a Nova bomb from the other side of the store-house. "Oh, right, Warlocks!"
"Yeah, because you have the last armor!" I yelled back as i drew another arrow, and knee capped a mare running at me. "You need a crutch there. Hunters are the most agile out of all of you, and, in-game-" another arrow drawn, another dead pony- "they found a shit load of Golden age relics before most others."
"Can you argue later!?" Nolandroid shouted. "We're kind of in the middle of a battle right now!"
"Against morons who can't even touch us, I should point out," Rhino shot back as I heard the sound of crushing bones over his radio, and screams of pain without.
"Do you forget what Oryx told you guys, and the conclusion you jumped to?" Tara asked. "Without evidence, albeit, but still jumped to!" she yelled as I heard Hive Knight roar before hearing a yell of pain
"She's not wrong, guys," Dinkle greed. "And if if she was, you guys are doing this like you're invincible, which you're not! What if Oryx, whether form this time line or ours, were to come here right now, and attack you?! Or something worse? Like the Hive God Akka?"(1)
"He's dead, guys," I deadpanned as I brought out a second knife and slashed at a pony's throats before flipping it into a reverse , and sliced off a unicorn's horn.
"Still, our point's valid."
"And just what are the fucking odds of that?" I asked out loud as I drew another arrow, ready to fire, before my body stopped, and Noland told me the same had happened to the others. "How?"
"Well, Josh," a voice I recognized replied, "it's simple." Of course I'd recognize it, why wouldn't I? "Oryx gave the power of blights." Here, a figure literally stepped out of the shadows. One I also recognized as it entered the light. "We just modified it." Why wouldn't I recognize him? He was me, after all. "I hope you're ready to die," he said as he summoned from the shadows a more human scaled version of Willbreaker, but still one filled with the Darkness, the edge giving off white flames. "Call it revenge for the mirror world."