User:Dante the Ghost/Sandbox

"Get to the Ridge, find out what's there, and put it down. The Cabal are moving too quickly for my liking."

- Commander Zavala

Future in Darkness is the first story mission of the first part of Paradox's storyline. After intercepting a distress signal from Variks, the Vanguard sends the Guardian to lend assistance and to investigate fears of possible Cabal interference. Upon arriving to Dwindler's Ridge the distress signal is revealed to be false, and the Guardian must fight for their life to survive.

Transcript
{Cinematic}

''A stylized swirling of lights fades in—the Milky Way galaxy, its billions of stars twinkling in the night. The Traveler appears in its center, graphing lines forming about it.''


 * The Exo Stranger: Once upon a time, there were two entities...

''The Traveler moves through space, passing by many worlds and stars. As its influence touches each world, stylized geometric shapes appear around and about them, some interconnecting.''


 * TES: ...two powerful, elemental forces, which have been from the beginning of reality.

''The camera pans back, moving swiftly from the Traveler and its benevolence. A group of shaded-in triangles, one noticeably larger than the rest, moves across space. As they move, the designs arranged by the Traveler shatter into fragments, some breaking apart other designs before the Black Fleet reaches them.''


 * TES: The Light and the Dark. We know them as the Traveler, and the Darkness. For the longest time, we were ignorant about the Darkness' true nature.

''The Traveler alights over a large planet with fifty-two moons. A larger, more ornate design flourishes—the Ammonite civilization, the Leviathan, and the multitudinous life on Fundament below.''


 * TES: All information we had concerning it was lost in the Collapse, and all that we knew was rumor, superstition, and other species' many, contradictory myths.

''The Traveler leaves Fundament as its elegance shatters. The symbol of Oryx encompasses the Jovian. As the sphere moves out of view, the Black Fleet arrives and halts above Fundament. The symbol of Oryx breaks apart into three smaller pieces, encircling the Fleet in a slow rotation, before setting off after the Traveler.''


 * TES: We now have learned who our true enemy is. The Hive, the Vex, merely servants to the Black Fleet. They know only one thing—to consume the Light. They hunger for its very essence, yet it is pain and misery. A double-edged sword the Fleet uses to control its thralls.

''As the narration progresses, the Traveler moves through the universe, pursued by the Hive and the Fleet. Every single dot of light, every single drawing, the Traveler finds and leaves almost immediately shatters thereafter. Finally the sphere passes through the Milky Way and enters Sol.''


 * TES: And also for the longest time, we believed we knew the reasons for the Traveler's existence. A necessary counterbalance to the evil within us. But this was never so.

''The Traveler alights above Sol, and sends out a pulse of power. The initial Fleet of triangles that follows is repulsed, destroyed in a tangle of lines and patches. The Hive enter, first Crota then Oryx's symbols, then break into fragments. The Vex symbol appears over Venus and Mercury briefly, before, it too, fades away.''


 * TES: The Traveler is a dying god... or rather a fragment, of goodness and Light. It cannot fight its battles. It needs its defenders. And so the Guardians were born.

Sol fades away, replaced by an army of Guardians and Ghosts; in the foreground is the Vanguard, and towering above them is The Guardian.


 * TES: With you as its sword and shield, the Traveler could fight back against its oppressor. Time and again you have beaten back the Darkness' many assaults.

Brief portraits of the Guardians' greatest victories splay across the screen—the Black Garden, Oryx, Ghaul, and Eramis.


 * TES: Victory was within reach—and then came the Fleet. Those broken shapes you fought on Europa, only a prelude. This time, they knew the answer: to achieve victory, they would target you. And so...

A fuller image of the Fleet appears onscreen, fully defined, the large central pyramid flanked by hundreds of lesser vessels.


 * TES: They did.

The image of a single humanoid figure appears, dominating the screen, before fading away.

{Cutscene}

''The landscape of Earth appears. Trees shake in a light breeze, clouds scud across the sky, birdcalls sound. A whirring sound is heard, growing louder and louder—then the grass parts and a Sparrow soars across.''


 * Commander Zavala: Guardian, the Vanguard has detected a signal originating from Variks in the general location of Dwindler's Ridge. You understand that we are cautious, as current intelligence has Variks placed firmly on Europa.


 * Ghost: Yes, Commander. It's worrying. It could be a trap by the Cabal.


 * Zavala: Comscan has detected several Cabal ships in the local area for weeks now, congregating around Dwindler's Ridge. Whether this is the Empress making her move at last, or a Ghual fanatic finally coming out of hiding, we are not certain. You are our eyes and ears on the ground.

The Guardian speaks.


 * Guardian: Understood.


 * Zavala: Zavala out.

''The Sparrow turns sharply and comes to a halt. Over a ridge the view is breathtaking—between two mountains dominating the sky, their white-capped peaks lofty and tall, with swathes of dark green trees shrouding their sides, is a dark pass covered in shadow where no sunlight can reach. A rumbling suddenly shakes the ground. The Guardian jumps off and crouches down, the Sparrow transmatting away.''

''High overhead a grand Cabal warship flies into view, its engines pulsing. It goes into the pass and disappears. After a moment of hesitation, the Guardian gets back up and jumps off the ridge.''

{Gameplay}

Boss

 * Eobard Thawne, Speedbreacher of Kirito