3The Light of Nirn
(Quick Disclaimer: I do not own Skyrim or anything related, nor do I own Destiny or any other series mentioned in this story. OC's are mine, though some minor exemption is here or there. This story will mention and feature Mods for Skyrim, such as weapons, creatures, quests, and others of the like, though some mods will be of a fictional creation unless it properly exists.)
(Hello everyone, Zodiac here! I'll leave bigger and more important details at the bottom, so this part will be mostly story related details. Simply put: this is a story that explores how things would be if a Guardian had taken the place of the Dragonborn. As for where we are in Destiny's story: We are in the final year of Destiny 1, after having dealt with all the raids, dlc's, and additional content that occurred. So in case you are curious, yes, the main character will be OP, especially since this is a lightbearer in Skyrim, of all places, which has yet to properly encounter the likes of the forces of darkness. And as for Skyrim? We are going right to the beginning before the dlc's, extra quests, and all the craziness Skyrim is known for!)
(Anywho, let's get started!)
[Speech Key List]
"Human/Humanoid/Ghost Talking" 'Human/Humanoid/Ghost Thinking'
"Message Audio/Journal writing/Book writing"
*Action Effect!*
"Godlike Being/Demon/Summon Talking" 'Godlike Being/Demon/Summon Thinking'
Chapter 1: Search and Rescue…
"...Message playback - Confirm?"
"Yes."
"Message playback - commence."
"This is Fireteam Leader Stryke-06. Just recently, we have been made aware of strange Vex activity not far from the Vault of Glass. Patrols of Hobgoblins and Minotaurs have been seen moving in and around the Endless Steps. It appears they're guarding something important, and whatever it is, it might be dangerous. We're about to go and investigate it now, however, in the event something happens to us, this message will be relayed to any nearby guardians. Should they receive it, they are to bring it to Fireteam Leader Riktor-02, if anyone can help, it'll be him…"
"Hey Stryke! We're ready to go, come on!"
"On it! End message."
"Message playback - concluded."
As the message ended, a warlock in Iron Lord armor couldn't help but frown in contemplation. On his back was a pitch black blade with an Iron Lord insignia near the hilt, at the side of it was The Clever Dragon pulse rifle, and at his hip was The Blinding Blaze sidearm. The warlock took off his helmet, revealing to be a red-armored Exo with matching optics and lighting, a black and red forehead plate, and some minor black-colored accents across his face. He stood roughly around 6'4, and his eyes held a look of wisdom and age.
This is Riktor-02, Fireteam Leader to Rainbow Tempest, and the guardian who had stopped many of the major threats throughout the system. From the time manipulating vex mind Atheon, the literal soul of the Hive prince Crota, the psychotic criminal and 'Kell of Kells' Skolas, Crota's vengeful god-killing father Oryx, and the cybernetically enhanced Archon Prime Aksis. He, his Fireteam, and many others have worked hard to bring humanity back from the low it had been at previously.
Today, however, was something even he was not prepared for.
In a flash, a Ghost with an Iron Song shell appeared over Riktor's shoulder, its lone eye narrowed in concern.
"That message was made five days ago, and was only fully received by another Guardian three days ago. Do you think they're alright?" He asked as he turned to Riktor.
"I'm not sure, but if we want to find them, we'll need to find where they went first." With a quick sigh, Riktor put his helmet back on and summoned his sparrow, the Iron Gjallarwing, and mounted it.
The engines purred to life before he boosted away, heading off to the Endless Steps. As he passed through the nearby forests, he noticed how there were only a few Winter Fallen moving about. It had been a hellish time for them in the last few years, with their Kell dead, nearly being recruited into Skolas's ranks, and with how many of them were taken when Oryx arrived. That wasn't to say that they didn't deserve it after all the destruction they caused and the damage they did to the Ishtar Collective, including trying to destroy vast amounts of research and data from the Golden Age.
Though, despite that, he did feel pity towards the Eliksni. Their home was gone, their culture torn apart, and their race is now scattered into separate houses. Unfortunately, the only house that he truly despised other than the Wolves was the House of Devils. Among all of the Fallen, he would NEVER forgive them for their crimes, and for what they had taken from him…
"Riktor, you okay?" The Ghost asked through the comm, pulling Riktor from his thoughts.
"I'm fine North, just reminiscing I guess. You got any pings on the scanner?"
"Nothing just-wait, I've got two signals at a nearby ridge."
"Friendly?" Riktor asked as he slowed the sparrow to a crawl.
"Yep, but it's not them, it may be their ships though. I'll set a way-point."
Riktor nodded and checked the map before making a right turn, running his sparrow along the cliff as he looked for any signs of the ships. After a few minutes, he noticed a small tunnel near the mountainside. Stopping his sparrow, he hopped off it and proceeded inside with his sidearm equipped. North popped out and shined his light, allowing Riktor to move more steadily through the dark. After a few minutes, light began to shine through an opening, and Riktor walked out to a small cavernous opening in the cliff-side and immediately spotted two ships, an Extinction Event Starship and a Vacuum Diagram Fighter. Both belong to the two of the three members of Strykes' Fireteam.
Riktor looked around and was concerned. The ships had been here the whole time, but from the looks of things, there was one missing.
"North, what do you think?" Riktor asked as his Ghost popped out and scanned the area.
"Hmm, if I have to guess, Stryke's Ghost must've called the ship in to get them out of danger. And if that's the case…" Ghost then went silent before turning to Riktor.
"Something really bad happened."
Riktor nodded grimly, holstering his weapon before turning around and sprinting back the way he came. Exiting the tunnel, he brought his sparrow back and immediately set off for the Endless Steps. As he drove on, he started noticing something wrong; all Vex activity had seemingly ceased as any and all Vex types had disappeared from view.
"North, are there any Vex popping up on the sensor grid?" Riktor asked cautiously as he looked around, slowing his sparrow to a crawl as he approached the main entrance way.
"Negative, they just disappeared."
Riktor's optics narrowed as after making it through another pass, they were in front of the Vault of Glass. A maze filled with twists, turns, and seemingly inescapable to those unprepared for it. Even his Fireteam and Stryke's had gotten mixed up inside many times due to its ever-changing nature.
And yet now, it was silent.
No patrolling Praetorian's, no Hobgoblins readying to snipe you, just...nothing.
Why no activity? The Vault was almost sacred to the Vex, hell even after Atheon died they still protected it! Looking around, Riktor spotted the entrance to the campus. Riding toward it, Riktor checked his radar and found nothing, further making him suspicious that something else was going on.
Stopping, Riktor got off his Sparrow and let it return to the ship before pulling his sword off his back and making his way through. North popped out and was scanning the area for any immediate differences in the environment. After a minute of walking, the two were now at Campus 9, an old research station for the Ishtar Academy that studied the Vex; Now it was nothing more than a grim reminder of what had happened so many years ago.
Looking around, Riktor noticed something that was IMMEDIATELY not right.
"What happened to the Gates?!" Riktor asked, alarmed at the sight of the missing tech. There had been a Vex Gate here before, though an inactive one, but it was just gone now. Looking around Riktor noted nothing else seemed missing so no Winter fallen were here, and judging by the state of the entrance, the Gate wasn't removed forcefully. North popped out and scanned the wall for traces of anything, only to stop and peer around confused.
"Strange, it seemed the Gate was disconnected and taken further in based on the trail, but why would they do that?"
He disappeared again and Riktor decided to move forward, leaving the campus behind as he proceeded further towards his destination.
As he continued on, he noted the other Gates had been taken as well, making the area seem more bare than usual. Trekking through foliage and geometric rock, Riktor was slowly getting more unsettled at both silence and lack of Vex; They are notorious for protecting these areas, and for attacking anything that trespasses beyond the Campus, so what was going on?
After a while, Riktor finally reached the passageway to the Endless Steps. Walking in, Riktor readied himself for anything; the Vex weren't short on surprises and they could've been working on some new form of weapon, ship, or hell even a new Gatelord for Traveler's sake!
After a moment of tense silence, Riktor made it, only to be met by a shocking sight.
"North, what the hell is that?!"
Standing at the top of the steps was a massive Vex gate, almost twice the size of the gate on Mars. The rock formations that once were settled behind the original gate had been removed or shifted to make space, while any and all tech were feeding into it like a cord to a wall socket. What stuck out the most were two things; First, the previously missing gates from before were seemingly taken apart and repurposed onto the new gate, and Second, the gate itself was angled and shaped like a satellite dish. Looking around, Riktor didn't see anything that stuck out at first until he saw a small data terminal linked up to, what he could guess was, an old research computer.
Riktor and North approached the structure slowly, keeping an eye on the tracker to ensure nothing snuck up behind them. Reaching the computer, North linked with it as data soon began to flood the screen.
"What is all this?" Riktor questioned as he looked over it, catching brief snippets of information as they scrolled by endlessly.
"This appears to be some type of long range gateway, spanning from here to...a set of very unknown coordinates."
"Coordinates leading to where?" Riktor asked as he holstered his rifle and examined the gate more closely.
"Not sure, but they do not lead to anywhere in the Milky Way, in fact...let me see if I can find out what they've done here."
Riktor nodded and turned around to scan his surroundings, prepping himself in the event of an attack. If the Vex were known for anything, it was how they seemed to appear when you'd least expect it.
Looking around he could see some signs of a fight that happened here, though it almost looked like the Vex wanted to ensure no one knew what happened here. And given that a whole Fireteam was missing, this must have been one dangerous secret for them to get this protective.
So once again, where ARE they?!
"And done-Oh no…" Riktor turned to North in concern, noting the scared tone in his voice. Not missing a beat, Riktor sprinted back to check what had happened.
"North, what's wrong?"
"The Vex have been way too busy…" He said in a very worried tone, not at all liking what he had found on the old computer.
"What is it?" Riktor asked as he saw the screen flicker between hundreds of lines of data, each one going through various languages and at different speeds.
"It's a test - and an experiment," North said as he looked at the massive gate as if it was some form of eldritch beast before turning to his Guardian with a somber look, "And I'm afraid I know what happened to our friends."
"What did the Vex do?" Riktor asked with barely contained anger.
Looking back to the computer, North answered as he scrolled through the information.
"This...thing, is a long-range Vex gate that was designed to triangulate the coordinates of a far off world not yet affected by their corruption. In truth, there was another one similar to this one here, but the Vex were able to send it through to that planet. Though it says here that they tuned it to go there at a 'specific point', whatever that means. What is interesting though, is that the Gate they sent didn't respond to them after reaching the planet."
"What, why? Vex are normally capable of teleporting between long distance locations in a fraction of a second. What stopped them this time?"
"That's just it, they don't know! Whatever it was, it severed the Networks connection immediately after it came through. So in order to understand what happened, they sent a search party through."
"What did they send through?"
"...20 Goblins, 10 Hobgoblins, 5 Minotaurs, 10 Harpy's, 2 Hydra's…and an Axis Mind," North was more than a little scared at the sheer force of Vex that was sent through.
If Riktor had skin, he would've paled a bit. The Vex were known for sending in groups en-masse, but to send that AND an Axis Mind!? If the planet's population wasn't prepared for what the Vex were capable of...it must've been a massacre.
"W-What happened?"
North took a moment to scroll down before doing, only for his fear to turn to confusion.
"Nothing."
Riktor stopped for a moment as he heard that, perturbed by the lack of info.
"What do you mean, nothing?"
"Its like I said, nothing. The group that was sent through never responded back. No reports on their conversion progress, no combat reports, there's not even a confirmation on what the planet is like!"
This threw the duo for a loop. It was a rarity for the Vex to be so easily thwarted, especially given how fast they could respond, but for an Axis Mind to disappear? It was either some unknown entity had assaulted them upon arrival, the planet was utterly impossible to land on, or...well it could've been anything!
Riktor shook his head, doing his best to not get even more concerned than he already was. Last thing he needed was to lose his cool.
"Okay, stepping back a bit, you mentioned an experiment. What did they do?"
North nodded and scanned the data again, pulling forth the data.
"After the first was sent through, the Vex didn't attempt anything for a while. From what it says here, the Gate was made at least two months ago, so they had some time to come up with a few theories. Some of those included the following: #1. The first group was destroyed immediately upon arrival by the locals, #2. They were shut down by some form of EMP effect upon arrival, and #3. The planet was already destroyed and the group was hit by debris."
"So, what theory did they go with?"
"None of them. They had some time to cross reference certain elements and ideas, and one feasible plan was made: To test the Gate on other lifeforms."
Riktor's optics narrowed, an awful feeling building up inside him.
North continued on, "The first group was, oddly enough, a Hive Tombship. While there is no way of knowing how many Hive were in there, it says here that the ship had come from the Dreadnought, though it doesn't say where it was heading."
"Most likely the moon, though I fail to see why."
"Me too, but it wouldn't be the first time the Hive had a plan for something, though knowing them it wouldn't end well for anyone."
They both nodded at that, a grim reminder to what the Hive had done to them and others in the past.
"Anyway, It says here that the Tombship was 'pulled in' by the Gate around a month ago, and after that, there was no response from them. It says here that they even altered the Hive's arrival point, to get different results, and there was still no sign of them returning!"
As bad as this is, Riktor couldn't help but find this very intriguing. Just where the hell did they end up, and what was preventing the Vex from reaching their own?
"The second experiment was two weeks ago, and the target craft was MUCH larger. It says here it was...an unknown Fallen Ketch."
"Unknown? As in there was no sigil printed onto it, or an unknown house altogether?"
"The latter, it says that the sigil they bore matched no records of any house we've encountered before, so they haven't encountered humanity yet."
So a Hive Tombship and an unknown Fallen Ketch? Well, things always seem to get just a little more complicated, don't they?
"And finally, the last experiment was…"
"Our friends, yeah I figured." Riktor rubbed at his helmet, not liking the situation at all. He turned back to North and asked "Were they forced through, or pulled in?"
North scanned a bit, "Forced. They called in a ship and piled in before taking off, but they were dragged in by some form of gravitational pull, and they went through. After that, nothing else."
As Riktor thought about that, he felt something was off. The Vex network was vast, and the Vex themselves had taken many worlds, so what was strong enough to cut this group off from the rest of the network so easily? As for the other two groups, Riktor was concerned. The Hive was certainly the biggest threat considering how fast they could corrupt any nearby environments, not to mention how brutal they are in claiming territory. As for the Fallen? This is an unknown group, either they are just like the House of Devils or they're not hostile whatsoever there is no way of knowing.
Too many unknowns.
With a sigh, North unplugged from the console and turned his gaze to Riktor.
"Without any idea of where they went, I can't do much here. We should contact the Vanguard and see if they-" Riktor turned to North to see his optic widened.
"They-they-they…!"
"North, something wrong?" Riktor asked, suddenly feeling something watching them. Turning around, he finally saw why.
'Uh oh…' Riktor thought as he turned to see that they were...kinda surrounded as over a hundred Vex had their guns trained on them both. Goblins were at the front while Minotaurs and Hobgoblins were at the rear. What was strange was the fact they hadn't fired yet.
'Are they not shooting because we're near the console?' Riktor thought as he tried to reach for his rifle only for the Vex to follow his movement very closely, ready to fire at a moment's notice. North did the smart thing and disappeared, while Riktor looked around for an opening; unfortunately, the way out of here was not only blocked but even MORE Vex were marching through.
'North, any ideas?' Riktor thought as he tensed himself as North thought on it.
'Judging by their numbers, fighting will only waste our time and ammo. We may have no choice but to retreat for now and group up with the others. Once we do, then we can tackle the portal.'
'Alright, now how do we get outta here?'
'I'm calling the ship now, we'll just need to keep em occupied. Want to go Voidwalker for this?' Just as North suggested it, Riktor felt the void surge around him as his class changed. Smiling behind his mask, he bent his knees a bit before blinking into the air, catching the Vex off guard.
Sweeping his arm back, he gathered a vast amount of void into a single orb before sending it forward, the single orb splitting into three and crashing into them creating several explosions. The Vex responded in kind and opened fire as Riktor pulled his primary out and shot a few Goblins down before moving to cover. A few approached to get a better shot before getting shot right in the core, collapsing on themselves as Riktor reloaded his rifle.
As the Vex continued to advance and as Riktor continued to fire upon them, a fog of digitized matter appeared on a small cliff-side nearby. Forming from it was, at a glance, a Cyclops; To those who looked closer, however, would notice its optic was narrower and its armor less bulky.
Just as Riktor had thrown a Vortex grenade at a pair of Minotaur, he heard the distant roar of his ship's engines. Holstering his rifle, Riktor took off for the cliff just as his ship appeared, phasing into the cockpit.
"Alright North, let's go get the others!" Riktor said as he strapped and set the coordinates for the Last City. As he was taking off, the strange Cyclops' eye began to glow a menacing red before firing directly at the ship's engines!
*BOOM!*
"What the hell? North, did they just snipe us?!" Riktor called out as he tried to keep the ship from crashing.
As that was happening, one of the Vex went up to the console from before and input a sequence, activating the Gate and aiming it upward. The Gate let out an ominous hum as it activated and created an eerie vortex that began to pull in Riktor and North.
"Oh shit, North! I can't pull us out, the damn things got its own gravitational pull!" Riktor shouted as he tried to pull out of it, but with the engine's out they were slowly getting dragged in. As he looked at his options, he grimaced in what he could do. No matter what, there was no way they were getting out of this and depending on where they go it would be some time before they could return.
Whatever happens, there was no alternative.
"North, I'm taking us in!" Riktor said as he drove straight into the Gate.
North reappeared looking extremely worried as he floated near his Guardian.
"But they'll close the Gate on us!"
"Maybe, but they won't pull it off again!" He said with certainty, flicking one of the buttons on the console as it brought up a targeting reticle on the screen. "Wait, are you-"
"Fire!"
With a press of the button, a pair of rockets fired off from the wings of the ship and flew straight ahead. The first hit the Gate itself and did minimal damage, but the second one landed near the console damaging it severely!
North and Riktor had no chance to react as they soon flew through the Gate at full speed, leaving it to shut down as the Vex looked in unison.
One looked to the console and merely stared in silent contemplation.
~In the vortex~
"Why did you shoot the console?!" North asked in a mix of shock and fear.
"Easy, if we left it alone they would've used it on someone else! This way, we can impede their efforts for a little bit while we find the others!" Riktor said in reassurance, an odd amount of confidence oozing into his voice.
"Oh, and what happens if we can't get back?!"
"Eh, we've been through worse. Don't worry about it, we'll be just fi-IIIIIIEEEE!" He didn't get to finish his sentence as he and North were soon hit by an unknown energy as it covered the ship. No matter how much they tried the pain wouldn't stop, and it had continued for what felt like hours.
However, just as it was starting to become unbearable, a new portal had opened before the ship as it soon flew right through.
Riktor, in pain and barely conscious, saw a brief glimpse of a planet just before falling face first into the console. Right onto the button that controlled the ship's warp drive. The engines were forced to their breaking point as the ship soon rocketed into the planet's surface.
Wherever they were and whatever planet this was, one thing was certain; Nothing would be the same ever again.
(And there's the prologue! Simple, but effective! Though I won't deny I have wanted to get this done for quite some time but, what are you gonna do?)
(Now some of the more important things such as: 'Why a new story?' 'Why Destiny of all things?' 'Where have you been?' and 'What about your other stories?')
(In a row, 1. I need something new to get back into working on fanfiction, and this is a good way to do so. 2. I love both games and find that there is a great deal of potential in fanmade stories with all the lore that we have. 3. I have been home, wanting so desperately trying to work on stuff but unfortunately I have not been able to find the energy to do anything or post anything. And 4. The other stories will eventually get worked on, but before that I need to get back into the groove of things and this story will help me in doing so!)
(Health wise, I am fine - though Texas has unfortunately not fared well with both Corona and the Protests, but I am still here! And more than anything I will do my best to not disappear into the unknown, no matter how bad things get. So keep going everyone, stay safe and healthy and don't forget to be with your loved ones!)
(I'll get to work on the next chapter, so tell me what you think and what your thoughts will be for the future of the story! Be safe, Ja Ne!)