-ian?
'Huh? What was that?'
-rdian?
'Ugh, my head. Everything's so fuzzy and metal.'
Guardian! Eyes up, Guardian!
My vision swam into focus as a clear blue sky, barren landscape full of rusted cars and ruined roads and a distinctly glowing white eyeball…orb…thingy all came into view. "Well shit, this certainly ain't Kansas, huh?" I muttered to myself, noticing the weirdly metallic tone of my voice, "Oh yeah, almost forgot about that.." I finished as I put my full attention on the shiny ball.
"It worked! You're alive!! You don't know how long I've been looking for you. I'm a Ghost, well now I'm YOUR Ghost. And you…well, you've been dead for a long time. So you're going to see things you won't understand."
With those words we heard the strange almost bugling howl of something decidedly unfriendly in the distance.
The Ghost rotated and chirped, "This is Fallen territory, we aren't safe here. I have to get you to the city. Hold still." With those words the Ghost vanished in a flash of light and I felt an odd sensation before hearing its voice again in my head. "Don't worry, I'm still with you. We have to move fast, let's get inside the wall!"
I grunted and stood from the rusted out shell of a car I was apparently napping in. I glanced around at the post apocalyptic wasteland and put a hand on my face, trying to relieve the very weird headache I was having.
"Guardian, let's move!" the Ghost said frantically, letting me know that my situation was getting worse by the second.
I shook my head and started running for the wall that my Ghost had so helpfully marked in my HUD. As I ran, my brain automatically started going through everything that hadn't been deleted at the time of my death. My trip down memory lane was halted before it began as I made it to the wall and ducked into the opening marked by my Ghost.
I made my way up flights of metal stairs, moving through rusted out corridors and abandoned rooms trying to find anything useful. I finally came out to a large, open space filled with the chittering sound of what were apparently Fallen as indicated when my Ghost said, "The Fallen thrive in the dark, we don't. I'll see if I can get the lights on."
My Ghost suddenly appeared in front of me and floated off toward the far wall, where I can see the outline of what might be a control room just out of sight.
The lights came on and I could see quite a few small, almost humanoid figures crawling along various pipes and walkways around the huge chamber.
"Found a gun, go grab it and let's get out of here!" my Ghost shouted in my head as head vanished again. I looked toward my newest way point and saw it floating above an absolutely ancient looking auto rifle. I picked it up and popped out the magazine to make sure it was at least slightly functional.
"Khvostov, huh? Reliable little shits for being Russian. It'll do for now." I muttered to myself as I examined the rifle, and surprisingly the only thing I could find actually wrong with it was the cracked sights, which did nothing to affect the red dot in the center. So, as my Ghost used its mystical powers to generate mags for it, I readied the rifle in my hands and moved on through the facility.
As I walked through the corridors popping heads off of the weird aliens I encountered along the way, my mind went back to the memories it had restored from my dormant state. I wouldn't have called it dead, exactly, but close enough.
"Hey Ghost," I called as I threw a knife into the head of a vandal trying to flank behind me, "do you happen to have a name or designation?" I was genuinely curious, because Ghost just sounded boring to me.
"No, usually the Guardian either names us or just calls us Ghost. I don't care either way though, so no pressure or anything!" the Ghost replied in my head, chuckling nervously, "Honestly, some of the names I've heard ghosts being called makes me nervous, heh." It finished in a very nervous tone, which made me grin.
"Well…" I drawled lazily, popping three dregs in a neat row with three short trigger pulls, "I just remembered something. See, my dad was obsessed with these old western holovids. I mean, he watched those things religiously. But anyway, the last time he left us, he got us both dogs. He named one and I got to name the other. Knowing where he was going with it I had one obvious name and I'm giving it to you now."
"You're naming me after a dog?" I could almost feel the indignation rolling off of my Ghost.
"Now hang on, it'll be great! I'm associating you with one of my favorite memories," I protested as I rolled underneath the frankly unprofessional swing of a vandal's taser-knife-thing and stabbed my knife under what I assumed was the chin, "plus I refuse to just call you Ghost. Way too boring. And slightly creepy. Mostly boring."
I heard my Ghost sigh in my head and I felt a sense of triumph. "Since I can see there will be no dissuading you, what will my new name be?" It asked in a resigned tone.
"Butch."
"Excuse me?"
"Butch. You know, from Butch and Sundance? My dad absolutely loved that movie. Could almost recite it word for word." I threw a knife that embedded itself into a dregs forehead, "He always pictured himself as a gunslinger, wandering the frontier and getting into trouble, heh. I think he might've enjoyed this." I finished as I put a few rounds into the last Fallen I could see.
"Sundance?!" Butch flickered into view, taking me by surprise as I jerked my head back on reflex.
"Yeah? Why, would you rather have that one?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion, "Hate to break it to you, but you look more like a 'Butch' to me." I finished with a grin and a wink.
"No, its jus- you know what? Nevermind. Probably nothing." Butch said as it vanished back into my head. "Since you remember that much, you remember your name?" It asked curiously.
"Ezra, but you can call me Ace." I said happily as I exited the facility and finally got another look at the sky. And the ruined colony ships dotting the landscape. And the giant ship flying down from what appears to be a purple rip in the sky. Oh.
"That's a Ketch. Basically the command ship of the Fallen. Seems like we've made a bit too much noise. I suggest we move quickly before they land too many troops." Butch quipped in my head as I snapped my attention to another large complex across a large empty field. An empty field that was quickly starting to fill with fallen dregs and vandals; names supplied by Butch in passing.
"Riight," I sighed as I shouldered the Khvostov and started making my way across the field, popping heads as I went, "seriously, do they always line themselves up like an old shoot-em-up?" I drawled as I sauntered across the field, tilting my body to avoid the weirdly slow blue projectiles as they fruitlessly fired at me, "And aren't these space guns? Being able to see and dodge the projectiles seems counterintuitive to me. I mean, not gonna complain if they wanna make it easy but still.."
"They usually depend on numbers to make up the difference. Unfortunately for them, that means single targets who can see them coming will be able to take them down relatively easily, at least as long as they don't call in the bigger guns." Butch explained in my head, "Oh, and those drone things you just blew up are called shanks. Very fragile, as you can see."
I looked down at the wreckage of the floating robot things that I shot down as they came out of the building I was about to enter. "Yeah, that's one way to put it. I take it these things aren't usually meant for fighting?"
"You'd be correct in that assessment. They're usually used as mobile turrets at best and otherwise used to repair their tech. Or to help scavenge tech that needs more finesse. Let's head inside, I'm getting a ping from something inside. Hopefully we can find something helpful here." Came the response in my head.
I stepped forward into the building, indicated by Butch as 'Dock 13' which indicated that this may be a hangar. My suspicions were confirmed as I stepped into the first large open space inside the complex.
In the center of the room, held aloft by old cables and scaffolding was the most beautiful thing I could remember seeing in my life. "Butch, its….its so beautiful! How could this have been left here? THIS!"
My outburst was fully justified as the object of my admiration and new obsession was a gorgeous yellow/orange rusted out Arcadia Class jumpship, just like dad used to have. The only problem with it that I could see was the Fallen squad that was swarming it, fortunately not yet having started the gutting process that would've rendered the ship useless.
"Hey Ace, remember that thing I said about bigger guns?" Butch quipped nervously in my head, "Well that bigger one is a captain. He has shields and might actually make an effort to avoid your fire."
"Oh? So they get smarter as they get bigger? Interesting reversal." I muttered the last line to myself as I prepare for the first real fight since I woke up.
"Yep! So make sure every shot counts and also, I've prepared something for you. Check your belt." Butch said cheerfully, aware that at that point, trying to get me to take any of this seriously was a losing battle.
I checked my belt and noticed that on my left hip was a glowing orange ball. "A….ball? Not gonna lie, I didn't expect to be able to settle this with a game of hacky-sack." I quipped as I pulled the ball from my belt.
"Ugh. Just throw it in the middle of the pack." Butch groaned as I smirked and tossed the obvious grenade in the center of the Fallen formation.
BOOOOM!
Butch flickered into view and we both stared at the results of my nonchalantly tossed grenade.
"Ace?"
"Yeah?"
"That wasn't supposed to happen." Butch said, mechanical voice quivering slightly.
"Gathered as much. Any idea on exactly why that happened?" I asked dully, staring at the scorched crater in the ground where the Fallen used to be, aside from the Captain who managed to dodge the full force of the blast, only losing his left leg and arms in the process. "Oooohh I'm sure he'll be fine. He'll be fine, right?" I winced and asked my Ghost as he buzzed over to the ship for diagnostics.
"I'm compelled to ask why you even care." Butch asked as he scanned over the ship, "Not like he'd return the favor."
"Meh, good point. Can't make an omelet without breaking a few extraterrestrial scavengers I suppose." I said 'thoughtfully' as I ended the captain's suffering with a quick burst from my rifle, "How's it looking?" I continued to say, gesturing towards the jumpship, "Will it fly?"
"Yup! Can't break orbit but it'll get us to the City."
"City?"
"Yes, the City. The last safe bastion of humanity."
"Oh. Sure, why not. Everything outside looks suitably apocalyptic. Good to go?" I asked as I strode over to the ship, which suddenly lifted from its cradle and huffed to life, lights coming on across the body and dust blowing out of the engine ports in thick brown clouds. I suddenly heard a deep growling sound to my right, so I snapped my head to the side just in time to see an absolute UNIT of a fallen lurch out of a massive hole in the concrete wall of the hangar. "Fuck is that thing?"
"Doesn't matter. Starting transmat." Butch said as he vanished into the ship and I felt a strange, electric tingle as the world around me changed to a dusty cockpit, "We'll come back after you've had some time to prepare. You're not ready for an Archon." He finished as I tiredly flipped the hood of my cloak back from my face.
"Thanks, Butch. I was just about running on fumes there. Hey, when did you get a twin?" I thanked Butch, then frowned as everything in front of my eyes suddenly doubled, "Oh, I think this isn't a good sign "
"Twin, what? Ace, you feeling okay?" Butch hovered in front of my face, concern in his voice.
"Hey, Butch? Imma take a nap now. You good flying the-" and my world exploded in pain and light as I lost consciousness, hearing my partner's concerned shouts and the rumble of my ships engines fading into static.
Ace(Ezra)
Race: Exo
Gender: Male
Class: Hunter
Status: en route to City(unconscious)
Sending a quick data burst to the city which included a short dossier of his new guardian, Butch hovered over him , concern in his single eye. He had always heard from other Ghosts how reckless their charges could be, but they never mentioned anything like this. His guardian swaggered through the Cosmodrome as if he already owned the place, casually dropping fallen in droves where veteran guardians would've at least had an issue, all the while running his mouth a million miles per hour, nearly dropping a quip for every corpse.
It was the last thing, though, that surprised him the most. That grenade. It was just supposed to be a simple incendiary, meant to give him an advantage in the fight against that last large squad.
It did not give him an advantage in the fight. It decimated the squad and disfigured the captain that led it.
"I would get another special one, wouldn't I? I can already feel the smug coming off of Sundance when she hears of this. Speaking of…" he trailed off as he gazed at his guardian's face, "This is way too coincidental. If what I'm thinking is the case, then the old saying 'Like father, like son' takes on an entirely paracausal meaning." He sighed, putting his focus on maintaining the autopilot that definitely hadn't been serviced in centuries.
The Last City
As the jumpship flew through the sky on the way to the city; in said city, a feeling was rising in the air.
In a large observatory overlooking a giant white orb floating above the City, a figure dressed in dark robes wearing a white mask stared as vibrations pulsed through the air. As he watched, the orb seemed to glow slightly, though it was hard to notice due to the time of day.
"Are you going to show us something? Or perhaps, you're being shown something…" the figure murmured to himself, "Either way, this is the most activity I've seen in a century…"
As he finished, the orb suddenly pulsed with Light. A spherical wave of ethereal energy expanded around the orb, passing through city streets and citizens, going mostly unnoticed except by those sensitive to Light. Those who felt it didn't understand, only feeling a sudden surge of hope and contentment.
A console nearby beeped, and the figured strode over to view the message. "A new guardian, I see. Could this be what the Traveler seems so excited about? I'll admit, its been a long while since we've seen a new face. Seems this one may be special…" he muttered as he glanced over the short dossier sent by the ghost.
Tower
In a large, circular room with a holographic table at the center, three figures stood together, discussing something.
"And then I waved my hand, real slow, and told that captain 'these aren't the parts you're looking for,' and the moron watched my hand while I used the other to pop his head with my cannon. Hah, guess you had to be there. Not all of us get to be Mr. Serious all the time Zavala." An exo hunter finished his dramatic tale with a flourish of his hands to the decidedly unimpressed awoken titan standing next to him.
"*sigh* Cayde, you've told us that story. Several times."
"And it wasn't even funny the first time." Said the human warlock on the other side.
"Ikora, you're breaking my heart, really. I'm always funny. You guys just have no sense of humor." The exo, Cayde, drew back dramatically with a hand to his chest. As he was about to pick the banter back up, his personal communicator beeped. "Uh, I'll be right back. I'll tell you guys about that time I stole Petra's ship and she showed me her knife trick the first time." He shuddered in memory, "Or l, maybe I won't. See ya!" he ended cheerfully as he waved while striding off toward his personal office.
'We've heard that one too.' Both Zavala and Ikora sighed to themselves as they looked at each other in both resignation and curiosity.
"I wonder what that was about?" Ikora, the Warlock Vanguard of the Tower said to the Titan Vanguard to her side.
"Hmmmm. It isn't like him to rush off like that, usually he sneaks. Maybe-"
Zavala was cut off as the holotable came to life with an urgent communication from the Speaker's Observatory.
"Vanguard, we have a New Light incoming. And this one seems… special." The Speaker's voice came through, smooth and emotionless, "I've forwarded the dossier his Ghost sent me." And with a beep, the dossier came into their view.
As the two stood side by side to read the information about this new guardian, Cayde strolled back in as if he had never left. "Guys! Amanda just told me there's a new Arcadia coming in! Ah man, and I thought good taste was gone in this place! Uh, what's with you two?" as he spoke excitedly, he noticed that Zavala and Ikora were looking at him, Zavala with a complicated gaze, while Ikora just had a shocked look frozen on hers.
"Cayde," Zavala began, "We just go information on a new guardian. A hunter." He said, not knowing how to handle this situation, "He's probably the one with the Arcadia."
"See! Knew it. Had to be one of mine. But what's with the faces? Jealous?" Cayde said lightly, fist pumping the air when he heard that he had a new Hunter to break in.
"Cayde." Ikora said, "Sit down. There's something you should see." She looked at Cayde with a forced calm, her turmoil obvious on her face.
"Uh, alright," Cayde walked over to the table and sat at his seat, "Well, let's see it."
Zavala and Ikora glanced at each other and looked back at Cayde. "Cayde, you need to remember that people change when they resurrect, they normally don't remember who they are, with only a few exceptions." Ikora started, "So we don't want you to get too excited." Zavala finished as he swiped the information over to Cayde's station.
"Psshhh. Excited? Me? What, do I owe em money or something?" Cayde asked as he turned to the data on the table, "I can handle…handle…." He trailed off as his glowing blue eyes dimmed and his hands dropped from the table, "Ace…?"
Zavala and Ikora stepped to his sides as he stared, dumbfounded at his son's name and information on the holotable. They each placed a hand on his shoulders, keeping him grounded as he read the short dossier over and over again.
"I uh, guys, I gotta go." Cayde muttered as he stood from his seat and walked towards the exit, "You know, new Arcadia coming in and all." He said, his voice deliberately light, though the way his eyes stayed dim highlighted his emotional turmoil.
"Of course, good luck." Ikora said, her eyes misting seeing her friend's distress.
"We'll be here, Cayde. We'll always be here." Zavala added, his expression soft as he gave an encouraging nod, "Go, see your new Hunter and his ship." He smiled slightly at his last words.
Cayde stopped at the doorway, his shoulders slumping slightly as he gave his friends a grateful nod, "Thanks guys, you know, I'll finally have someone who appreciates my stories…" his voice faded as he strode out of the command room.
Zavala and Ikora both sighed in fond exasperation.
End of Chapter