Reincarnated Into Destiny Universe - Volume 1 Chapter 27 Koren The Core

(Day 98)

As the glowing door opened before them, Isaac’s fireteam quickly spotted the Gatekeeper and loosed a constant volley of Void Augmented Sniper Rounds into the Gatekeeper’s eye. The Gatekeeper, being continuously stunned by the precisely landed enhanced munitions, wasn’t given a second to act as the crew’s assault laid waste to it. The Gatekeeper fell in seconds and the Guardians made their way into the Vault and onto the plates that controlled the time portals.

———-

(The Summoning Pits: Day 88)

“Listen up, gang. Once we get inside the Vault, things are gonna get serious. Some parts of the Vault, if not all, will require that our teamwork be absolutely flawless. As you all are already aware, the more competent each individual on a team is the more competent the overall makeup of the team will be. Today I want us to start training an analysis technique that will allow us to take our individual and team competency to the next level.

“I want you all to start off focusing on one enemy and use only normal primary fire to bring it down. Ghosts, I want you all to monitor and keep track of how many rounds are required to kill that enemy. Then single out another enemy of the same type and, after repeating this process a few times, begin killing that same type using another weapon or ability. If it’s killed in one shot continue killing that type of enemy while decreasing the potency of whichever attack you are using. After you’ve cleared out the entire room, your ghosts should have a complete database including, a name and a detailed description of each type of enemy, the whole or fractional number of each type of attack required to kill that enemy, and any distinguishing characteristics of enemies of the same type that are stronger or harder to kill than their counterparts.

“Once we’ve all cleared our respective rooms, our ghosts will link up, compare notes, and begin formulating an average unit of damage wherein a single base unit of damage is equivalent to a fraction of a single unaltered Fusion Grenade’s base damage. With the base unit of damage established, our ghosts will then rate all types of rounds and abilities, establish a rating system for rounds weaker than a base unit, and then apply this new system to the database they will have already established.

“The only thing left after that is for them to tell us the results of their research and then we can use this knowledge to more efficiently utilize our ammo, determine how best to deal with certain objectives, and even assess unknown enemies in the heat of battle so that we can be better prepared for more of their kind. So what do you guys think?”

“It’s a really good idea. The more I consider it the more I like it. Let’s do it.” Koren said.

“Yes, I can definitely see the benefit in such a system. We should start immediately.” Ferra added.

“Alright, then let’s get to it. To the pits of the Hive’s despair!” Isaac shouted, as they all dashed towards their respective Pits of Despair.

The results of the team’s continuous development of their new BUD (Base Unit of Damage) system led to the classification of pulse rifle and auto rifle rounds as Tier 3 Rounds. Sniper and scout rifle rounds were classified as Tier 2 Rounds, and shotgun and rocket launcher rounds were classified as Tier 1 Rounds. Since the damage of a weapon’s rounds is not only dependent upon the size of the rounds but also the speed and weight, they went with tiered rounds as opposed to individual rankings for each weapon or round.

The ratings were based on body shots only and Tier 3 Rounds needed at least three to a handful or more individual rounds to deal one BUD. Tier 2 Rounds only required one or two and Tier 1 Rounds dealt more than one BUD per round. It was decided that one quarter of the Fusion Grenade’s base damage would be the measure and so one standard Fusion Grenade could deal 4 BUDs.

Having fleshed out their BUD system, they analyzed the Vex enemies they faced and confirmed that a Goblin was considered a 2 BUD enemy, Hobgoblins and Harpies 3 BUD enemies, and Minitouars were 4 BUD enemies. Something like a basic Hydra would be about 6 to 8 BUDs, while something like the Nexus Mind would be around 100 to 120 BUDs.

After completing this system, however, Isaac wasn’t finished and revealed to his teammates the secondary purpose, behind developing this system. With the BUD system firmly established, they could now use the BUD system to determine how much Light was required to deal one BUD with varying abilities, calculate the average, and thus establish a BUL (bull,Basic Unit of Light) system.

When applying BULs to Tier 1 and 2 munitions, the BUL system would take precedent in the naming. For instance, an auto rifle round augmented with 1 BUD of Solar Energy would be referred to as a 1 BUL round. When applying BULs to Tier 3 munitions or abilities, the BUD system would take precedent. For instance, a typical Fusion Grenade whose power is increased by half would be considered a 6 BUD Fusion Grenade. The BUL system was a bit subjective, since it would be different for each Guardian depending on their Light Attunement. As such during combat situations, everything would fall under the BUD system, for the purposes of call outs.

Both of these systems would allow them to have a much more comprehensive understanding, of both their own abilities and their enemies capacity to handle those abilities, increasing the lengths to which they could stretch a single full charge of Light.

Once their training was completed and the BUD and BUL systems were fully fleshed out, they paid a visit to Banshee and requested both modified scout rifles, designed to unleash exactly one BUD per round, and modified Exotic Line In The Sand Linear Fusion Rifles, designed to display it’s charge as BUDs from 3 to 9 and alter its Elemental Energy output on command. The scout rifles they called Barometer Rifles and the modified Line In The Sand was called The Switch Hitter. The only problematic part of their order, for Banshee, was the large number of custom Exotics. Despite the magnitude of their order, he actually managed to complete all of their Barometer Rifles and Switch Hitters, before their training was completed.

———-

(Day 98)

After clearing the room of the occupying Vex, Koren and Bravo manned the sync plate on the left while the others waited at the entrance of the opening portal.

Once the portal was fully formed, the four stepped through into the Vault’s past and immediately felt an ominous energy gathering around their bodies. They knew this was the mark of the Void and they needed to kill the Oracles and the Gatekeeper quickly. Making sure that there were no major differences from the footage they were shown, they all kept their eyes on the air above them. With their Barometer Rifles at the ready, they didn’t have to wait long for the Precursor Vex to start targeting them and for the Oracles to arrive.

All four began evading the Precursor’s fire, as Laurel fired the first round at the first Oracle and Daniel fired the second. They each fired a single round in quick succession into the first Oracle, because it was faster than one person firing due to the Barometer Rifle’s slow rate of fire.  Once it had come back around and Daniel had fired his second shot, the Oracle’s radiolaria began to disperse.

This was in line with what they had expected, as the Oracles in the Templar’s Well had a 3 BUD threshold, it made sense that these would have a 6 BUD threshold. Now that they were aware of the Oracle’s damage threshold they all equipped their Switch Hitters and one shotted the other Oracles.

With the Oracles taken care of, they quickly slaughtered the other Vex including the Gatekeeper. As the Gatekeeper’s body was exploding into bits, the Aegis Relic appeared only a few steps away from their location. Isaac snatched up the Relic cleansed his teammates of the blackish red colored Void Energy and escorted them back to the portal.

Immediately upon exiting the left portal, Isaac cleansed his teammates once again, handed the Relic off to Ferra, and headed for the next portal. Bravo saw the others emerging from the portal and signaled to Koren. All five of them then made their way to the right portal and sync plate, while Ferra went to the bottom of the stairs leading to Throne of Glass. A conflux had just spawned there and Minitouars were attempting to sacrifice themselves to it. With the Relic in hand, Ferra began killing the Minitouars and waiting for the others to return.

Already knowing the BUD values for the Oracles and approximations for the other enemies, the portal crew ran through the second portal in less than a minute. As the three of them exited the right portal, Isaac popped one last cleanse and then joined the conflux defense squad.

All manner of Vex were now being conjured from who knows when or where, the most troublesome of which were Praetorians. Isaac’s fireteam utilized the Focused Fire Strategy to its utmost to hold off this assault. They continued felling the Vex, until the conflux disappeared and a familiar black metallic fog began forming within the massive triangular doorway that dominated the back of the room.

As Isaac’s fireteam repositioned themselves for the upcoming encounter, the black metallic fog was shifting and pulsating with Arc Energy. A terrible and robotic screeching issued forth from the fog as Atheon, Time’s Conflux materialized in front of them.

If they had time to do so, they would have taken a moment to appreciate the size of the being before them. It was nearly twice the size of the Gate Lord that Isaac had defeated. Focusing on the task before them, they all gathered in the back of the room with Koren and Bravo resuming their positions on the sync plates. After becoming impatient with the intruders hiding in the back of the room, Atheon raised right hand into the air and Laurel, Koren, and Ferra were sent into the Vault’s past.

‘Of course, it wouldn’t be that simple. Oh well, at least we tried. Nothing to do now but push forward.’ Isaac thought as he headed for the vacant sync plate. Ferra, Koren, and Laurel swept through the Vault’s past, picked up the relic, and exited as quickly as they had finished the last one.

As the time travelers exited the left portal and cleansed, the crew jumped into action as they noticed their Light Charge begin to rapidly fill. Ferra stood on the central floating platform that occupied a square pit in the middle of the room, while maintaining the Aegis Relic’s shield function. Bravo stood within the shield and took up a familiar pose as the others entered the shield. Expending every ounce of his Light Charge on a Quadruple Powered Arc Rail Drill Spear, Bravo hurled the massive conflux of Arc and Kinetic Energy directly into Atheon’s core. Everyone else summoned their Golden Guns and shot FOMA infused Golden Gun shots into the back of the Drill Spear, driving it further and further into Atheon’s heavily damaged core. As the fifth shot landed the Drill Spear was sent completely through the colossal machine staggering him but surprisingly not killing him.

Upon witnessing Atheon’s survival of their assault, all six of them began spamming Nova Bombs at him and around his feet. All six of their ghosts, who were behind Atheon scanning his core and other parts, were forced to dodge their Guardians abilities. Once the effects of Time’s Vengeance came to an end, the entire ground around Atheon’s feet was covered in Void Bombs. Atheon was kneeling with his core shattered and his frame deformed and falling apart. That, of course, didn’t stop him from sending his right hand into the air the very second that Time’s Vengeance ended.

This time not only were three random people sent through time but six Oracles were also summoned. Three Oracles appeared on each side of the throne room nearly in line with the portals and slightly higher. As Koren and Bravo were hiding behind their pillars and waiting for the Supplicants, they noticed the Supplicants weren’t coming and heard the sound of the Oracles arriving. They looked towards Atheon who had raised both his arms up at his sides with his hands open and palms facing outwards. The pose made it seem as if he were in between two walls and attempting to keep them from closing in on him.

Once Atheon had assumed this position, the Oracle’s on each side started thinning out by stretching their normally spherical bodies into threads, that weaved their way towards Atheon. The threads twisted around his arms and wrapped around his torso, until they reached his the vacant hole where his core once was. The threads flowed into that hole reshaping his lost core and repairing his damaged frame.

Koren and Bravo spotted this unexpected phenomenon after the Oracles were already flowing towards Atheon. Once they had a complete picture of this scene and realized what was happening, the last of the Oracle’s radiolaria was flowing around Atheon’s arm. It didn’t take long for the entire process to take place, only about four seconds from the Oracles arriving and completion.

Upon witnessing this unfortunate turn of events, Koren, Daniel, and Bravo did the only thing they could do until the others returned, kill, kill, kill, and kill some more. As soon as the time travelers arrived, Koren explained the situation as quickly as he could.

“What the f.u.c.k!? He can recover using the Oracles? Dammit! No time to dawdle! Bravo! Drill Spear and then make him kneel. Koren that right arm is somehow involved with his abilities take it from him. Ferra provide us with leverage. Daniel, Laurel, and I will make sure the Drill penetrates and then counterbalance. Go now!” Isaac hurriedly shouted the commands.

Once again, Bravo sent forth the mighty Arc Rail Drill Spear, crossed the chasm between them and Atheon, and Blinked behind him. As Bravo began hammering the back of Atheon’s knees with FOMAs, Isaac, Laurel, and Daniel shot three FOMA infused Golden Gun shots into the spear. This time it only took that many to send the spear completely through Atheon.

Once Bravo started his FOMA assault, the spear had ripped completely through Atheon’s core. Koren now sailed across the chasm and grabbed hold of Atheon’s right arm. Isaac followed close behind fusing FOMAs with his Light Bomb and blasting Atheon’s face with them. Laurel and Ferra landed flying FOMAs into Atheon’s shoulders, as his enormous frame finally came tumbling down. However, as soon as they attempted to the next phase of their plan, Atheon’s left arm went into the air and Koren, Daniel, and Ferra were sent through time.

Having spent a portion of the duration of Time’s Vengeance being updated and revising their strategy, Time’s Vengeance had already expired leaving them to face Atheon for a third time. This time, however, they knew what was coming and pulled out their Switch Hitters. As soon as Atheon summoned the Oracles, Isaac, Laurel, and Bravo opened fire on them. They managed to destroy all of them within two seconds. The parts of the Oracles that had already begun their journey towards Atheon, however, were not destroyed along with their main bodies.

The threads from the Oracles that managed to escape from their main bodies were just enough to recover Atheon’s core. The time travelers once again exited the portal and received Isaac’s instructions.

“Bring him down! Bravo leverage! Everyone else counterbalance!” Isaac ordered as he sent a Kinetic Light Bomb directly into Atheon’s core.

Laurel and Ferra grabbed an arm each and drug it behind Atheon. Daniel and Isaac stood behind hovered behind Atheon sending FOMAs into the back of his knees. Bravo summoned his Arc Rail Drill Spear and watched as Atheon tumbled to the ground for a second time.

Laurel and Ferra moved over to Atheon’s right arm and controlled it by pulling it towards the back of the room. Koren and Isaac moved to Atheon’s left leg and pulled it towards the entrance. Bravo unleashed his full powered Drill Spear into Atheon’s armpit, grabbed hold of it, and applied as much pressure as possible to the spear in an attempt to separate Atheon’s arm from his body.

Seeing that this wasn’t going to work in time, Bravo went into overdrive and made the most of the unlimited Light Charge provided by Kabr’s Relic. One, two, thee, Drill Spears into Atheon’s armpit in three seconds. Three more seconds Three full powered FOMA Golden Gun shots for each spear. As each shot landed, the shrieking of twisted metal could be heard as Atheon’s arm joint was weakening and coming apart. One more double full powered Drill Spear and then Bravo summoned a massive Hammer of Sol, FOMA style, and slammed it with all his might into the last Drill Spear.

The shrieking that could be heard before could be heard now only louder and so intensely that the Guardian’s bones were shivering. Atheon’s arm finally came completely away from his body and Wraitheon and OneShot collected the weapon and arm. A fraction of a second after the arm came off, Atheon’s left arm sent three random Guardians through time.

The three left behind with Atheon opened fire on the Oracles as soon as they appeared. This time the core was repaired along with a tiny portion of his arm joint. The time travelers reemerged and immediately went for Atheon’s left arm.

Already knowing how much it would take to remove the arm, Bravo didn’t waste anytime with his first approach. He immediately went all out summoning his Drill Spear, emptying his newly replenished full Light Charge into his already full powered Drill Spear causing it to double in size, and then sent it full force into Atheon’s armpit. Once again summoning a FOMA infused Hammer of Sol, he began rapidly pounding the spear into Atheon’s exposed joint.

After the sixth blow from Bravo’s hammer, they once again heard that horrendous twisted metal sound as Atheon lost his last arm. With only ten seconds left before Time’s Vengeance expired, it was time to call in the big guns. All five of them summoned Arc Rail Spears and shoved them into the outer edges of the core, while Koren jumped onto the torso, reached inside, grabbed hold of Atheon’s core, and pulled with all of his LAMP assisted might. The five spear wielder’s pull all of their LAMP assisted might into their spear levers.

The spears disappeared a second before Time’s Vengeance expired. A second before, however, that familiar shrieking could be heard. The other five, knowing that it was all up to Koren now, turned around, pulled out their Switch Hitters, and fired on the incoming Oracles. Luckily, Isaac had always taught them to never rely on regularities in enemy behaviors and to expect the unexpected or else they might have just assumed that the Oracles wouldn’t appear with his arms gone. They were all ready to go through another round of time travel, if needs be.

Five of the Oracles were destroyed instantly, the sixth however managed to eek out a small thread of radiolaria that was now on its way towards Koren and the core. Once again, that wretched shrieking signaled Koren’s success as he fell backwards with the core in his hands. That thread of radiolaria, however, was tracking the core. As soon as the core was removed, the thread switched trajectories heading directly for Koren.

They all knew, from Isaac’s memories, how serious contact with radiolaria could be. It wasn’t guaranteed that any contact with radiolaria would be a disaster but it wasn’t a risk they wanted to take with their comrade. In what seemed like slow motion, Koren was falling backwards, core in hand, and the radiolaria thread was closing in fast. The radiolaria was very nearly at its destination, less than a foot away, as Koren landed on his back and suddenly…a purple beam of Void Energy flew past them and vaporized the radiolaria thread.

Koren and the others looked back to see Daniel lowering his Switch Hitter and grinning like a fool.

“Dayum, Daniel! That was one helluva shot!” Isaac exclaimed.

“Right? That was seriously amazing!” Laurel agreed.

“Haha, thanks!” Daniel replied.

Koren got up and walked over to Daniel and said, “Thank you, Daniel. That was the best display of gunmanship that I’ve ever witnessed and it saved me from a fate that could potentially have been worse than death. Words can’t express my gratitude.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. It was no big deal. I’m sure you would’ve done the same for me. That is assuming, of course…that you could.” Daniel teased, as he winked at Koren.

Everyone had a good laugh over that not because it was particularly funny but because they had just defeated the infamous Atheon, one of them had a perilously close encounter with the deadly radiolaria, and they were all a bit on edge despite their victory. With that bit of levity, the atmosphere changed to one more reflective of a team that just achieved a major victory.

After snatching up all the loot including Atheon’s remains, doing a bit of exploring, and returning to their sh.i.p.s, the crew treated themselves to a dinner of champions and a sleepy time of heroes.