Though the Coalition has finally brought an end to the War of Light and Darkness that plagued the entire multiverse, the struggle still remains far from over, for now, a new threat has emerged from the darkest edges of the Solar System to challenge the Last City.

After many years of remaining dormant since the unmaking of the Endless Night long ago, the Athenaeum Rift makes a violent insurgence, spreading its infection across timelines, and Hive dwelling on Earth and Luna, birthed by the Hive Prince Crota and his followers so long ago, have made themselves known once again, under the leadership of a new warmonger: Voldor, the firstborn son of Xivu Arath and War Monarch, of the infamous Darksteel Brood. Under his flaming sword and iron fist, the hordes of shrieking monsters and corrupted heroes have banded together on Earth, attempting to fulfill his mother's horrifying mission of subjugating every universe to the will of the Sword Logic.

In the hopes of preventing this coming threat from rising, the Vanguard and the Lucent Hive have called upon the Guardians to venture into the wretched dimensions of the Rift in the hopes of bringing down this dark enemy.