Hello lovely peoples! I hope you are having a wonderful day! I'm not going to lie, I am very excited about this story line! This is my first solo story I have ever done, that is not Skyrim related. I've been working on this for a few weeks now and I think it's coming together nicely (at least my mom, brothers, and dad think so ;) I hope you enjoy! It means a lot that you even decided to view it. Thanks a million!
The New Guardian
By StarGazer
For those who need a little context-if you are familiar with basic Destiny lore, then you can skip this part, and go straight to the next line beneath.
The Tower, an asylum the champions of the Traveler built to protect those too weak to defend themselves. One Champion, the self proclaimed Speaker, boasted to speak for this Traveler, and the revived peoples of Earth rallied behind him.
In a world decimated by the Darkness, the Traveler's most ancient enemy, the Tower stood like a beacon of hope, protected by those champions, who came to be known as the Guardians.
Guardians were birthed from the dying breath of the Traveler, resurrected from corpses lost in the Great Collapse, by small shards, cast off of the great machine god, called the Ghosts. A Ghost is a fragment of the Traveler, that connects their Guardians to it's Light. Ghosts would spend centuries searching for their perfect match, be it in the Cosmodrome, or a world as distant as Mars. Once revived, the new Guardians would be guided by their own little piece of the Traveler, unable to die, as the Ghosts could resurrect, or heal them. Ghosts were essentially sentient robots, that could teleport, transport, hack, communicate, and track for their respective Guardian. So, as you can imagine, they came in very handy.
Light again filled the inner galaxy with this final gift, the Guardians rose to rule the Cosmodrome, they built walls surrounding the Tower and the Traveler, and fought against all odds to defend their charge.
For centuries, these immortal champions lived, fought, died, and were reborn over and over, all for the sake of the Traveler.
Three factions made up the Guardians, these were the Titans, the offensive soldiers whose bravery was renowned for leading the front line attacks. Warlocks, powerhouses that decimated entire legions. And lastly, the Hunters, mysterious rogues who acted as scouts and snipers, roaming the wilds for signs of war.
Over these factions, the Speaker appointed three leaders, Zavala the Awoken Titan, Ikora Rey the Human Warlock, and Cayde-6 the Exo Hunter. They formed a fireteam, and together with the Speaker, led the Tower to peace, and prosperity. Now, this story begins at the height of power the Tower achieved, and follows a short tale, about a time in the Hunter, Cayde's life…..
Beginning for those who do not need story, or context-
"Ikora! Zavala!" Cayde-6 exclaimed, earning the attention of his fellow Vanguard. "You called?"
Ikora rolled her eyes, and Zavala moved forward to address the Hunter.
"Cayde, nice of you to make it here on time, for once." He said with a hint of amusement.
Cayde shrugged, "For once, I had nothing better to do." He had, in fact, only made it on time to escape a lengthy discussion with Holliday about a misplaced warpdrive he had "borrowed".
"Anyway." Ikora began, "We've received a strange distress signal near the Cosmodrome wall. It's faint, but traceable, and oddly, familiar."
"Familiar?" Cayde questioned, suddenly serious.
"Yes." Zavala dropped in, "A Hunter scout and his Ghost discovered the signal first, but were unable to locate it's source. They described the signal as one that a fellow Ghost and Guardian would use."
Cayde was silent for a moment, he was surprised. If the signal was indeed from a Ghost, then it could have been easily traced to its source.
"You said it was traceable, and yet one of my Hunters couldn't locate it?" He asked at length, "That doesn't make a whole lot of sense."
"Agreed." Ikora replied. "We can track it to a certain area, however, once in that area we lose the signal entirely."
Cayde began to pace, a familiar habit that his fellow Guardians had grown accustomed to. Ikora and Zavala waited patiently, letting the Exo process the situation.
"How big is the area in which the signal was lost?" He asked, never hesitating in his stride.
"About 6 miles in diameter." Zavala offered.
Cayde nodded absentmindedly and mumbled something under his breath.
"Cayde?" Ikora asked.
The Exo turned and looked at her questioningly.
"We were thinking that you should go investigate. Seeing that not even your Hunters were able to locate the source."
Cayde shot a surprised look at Zavala, who nodded his consent. "Wow guys, I must say I'm surprised, no, shocked really. I can't remember the last time you told me to go on a mission."
The Warlock and Titan Vanguard exchanged looks.
"You're always complaining about how you want to get out of the Tower. We thought this would be the perfect opportunity." Ikora said to an already retreating Cayde.
"Just promise us one thing." Cayde briefly ceased his retreat, and looked impatiently at Zavala.
"Stay out of trouble, and don't take any unnecessary risks." The Titan finished with a stern looked fixed on Cayde.
Cayde raised his hands in a defensive posture. "Me? Take risks? Nah. Safety is my middle name, Cayde Safety 6. I'll be fine."
The two Vanguard assaulted him with doubtful looks.
Cayde drew a finger in an X pattern over his chest. "Cross my heart, and hope to fly."
"Hope to fly?" Ikora questioned.
"Yeah. I like to put my own spin on things." He replied before turning tail and jogging out of the Vanguard hall.
Zavala sighed, "I hope we made a wise decision," he said wearily.
Ikora simply nodded, thinking the exact same thing.
"So, what do you think?" Cayde asked as he surveyed the world below him.
"It's strange, we crossed the perimeter of the circle, and the signal is just, gone." His Ghost replied, clearly puzzled.
Cayde nodded, his thoughts exactly. The Exo was perched on a spire jutting out of the Cosmodrome wall, giving him a perfect overview of the dead zone.
"Maybe… It's a precaution." Cayde vocalized his thoughts. His Ghost looked at him expectantly, "Think about it, if we can find the signal, don't you think others could find it as well?"
His Ghost made the little bobbing motion that indicated its agreement, as a Human, Exo, or Awoken might nod to express the same.
"This area is nearly overrun with Fallen, and more recently, Hive. If they were to find our mysterious friend before we do..."
His Ghost shuddered, "Point taken."
"Well!" Cayde straightened from his crouching position, "Looks like we have to do this the old fashioned way." He hopped off the spire, double jumped, and landed lightly on his feet.
"Do a sweep of the area, look for any energy signatures within the diameter of the dead zone. We'll start in the middle of the circle, and work our way out."
His Ghost bobbed again, "Good idea. I'll be back in a minute, see you in the center." With this, it disappeared.
The Hunter Vanguard hopped nimbly onto his sparrow that he had left at the base of the wall, and sped as fast as it would take him to the center of the dead zone.
Cayde knelt next to a transmit beacon, his ever present Ghost hovered by his side. The wires had been pulled out and rearranged to emit a new signal, a signal of what both Cayde and his Ghost suspected might be a coded message. He lifted the mass of wires and examined them carefully.
"This looks like the work of an ametuer at best." he commented as he attempted to untangle the mess of wires.
"Here, let me take a look at it. I might be able to decode whatever message this "ameteur" hid here. But if you keep messing with it, it could break, and then we'd be screwed." the Ghost said, moving forward to get to work.
Cayde grumbled but moved back to let the Ghost work its magic. It only took a few moments for him to decode the message, it was a list of coordinates, leading somewhere inside the north side of the wall.
"Looks like we found it!" Cayde stated triumphantly.
"No thanks to you." The Ghost commented.
The Hunter glared at his Ghost, "Watch it, or I'll attach you to a post and use you as a torch." he paused as if considering something, "And a night light back at the Tower."
The Ghost scoffed, but otherwise heeded the warning.
Cayde made good time and arrived at the desired coordinates in a little under an hour, taking out a few Fallen here and there on the way.
His Ghost examined the shear wall the directions had led them to, the only entry point that could be found was a hole halfway up, which was three feet in diameter.
"Well, this is going to be fun." Cayde groaned. He backed up and studied the wall, looking for the best place to begin the climb. He spotted a path of studs that poked out of the wall and led a few feet to the right, and directly above the opening.
The Hunter pulled his gloves tight, rolled his shoulders, and began the ascent.
The studs were slick and wet with ice and snow, making footing treacherous. Cayde didn't fancy a fall that would more than likely either cripple or kill him, he disliked being revived, his mind always felt fuzzy, forgetful, and distant after the fact.
Cayde made it to the top with only a few slips or missteps. He let his legs hang as he descended, using only his arms, down to the opening in the wall. The Exo swung his body out and forward, aiming for the entrance. He released his hold on the studs as the momentum of swinging carried him in. Cayde slid a few feet into the entrance, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" he had to plant his feet on either side of the tunnel to keep himself from going any further. The passage was steeply slanted downward, and led to an unknown destination.
"Well." Cayde exclaimed as his Ghost joined him in the entrance. "You could have warned me I was entering a slide to certain doom."
"Must have slipped my mind." The Ghost replied slyly.
Cayde grunted, clearly irritated, "How about you get down there and tell me if it's safe. I don't want to get myself down only to be impaled on something, or fall into a bottomless pit."
The Ghost bobbed and flew down the tunnel, only to return a moment later, shaking with excitement. "I found the source of the signal! Come on you have to see this!"
Cayde hesitated, "I'm not going to be impaled am I?"
The Ghost shook violently, "No, no, there's a cloth hammock at the bottom that should catch you. Now hurry!" before Cayde could say anything further, his Ghost shot back down the tunnel.
Cayde sat for a minute talking to himself, "Can I get a new Ghost? Shouldn't be that hard... Little two faced, smart aleck, flashlight bot. *sigh*
Oh well, down I go."
He released his anchor on the sides of the passage, and slid down at a breakneck speed.
"AH! Oaff!" The Hunter exclaimed as he fell out of the exit and landed heavily in an old hammock, that groaned and squeaked with his weight.
Cayde struggled with the cloth prison, trying with little success to sit up. "Help! Can someone give me a hand?" He shouted to anyone.
"Shut it Cayde! You're scaring her!" His Ghost hissed.
"Scaring… Her?" Cayde froze, trying to get a look at this "her". The Exo heard a loud snap, as the hammock's support strings frayed and tore, no longer able to hold his weight.
"Oh nuts." Was all he got out before he came crashing to the ground, hammock and all.
Cayde groaned, still trapped in a mess of strings, cloth, and his own limbs.
"Light preserve me!" He grumbled, while attempting to free himself from this disaster. He struggled in vain for a time, before giving up entirely and shouting, "Oh for the love of!" He activated his BladeDancer, instantly freeing himself in a whirl of blades.
"There!" He stated as his Arc energy diminished, "That's more like it!"
"Cayde!" His Ghost nearly screamed at him, "That was a little over the top, don't you think?! Look at what you did to the poor girl!"
Cayde grew quiet, as his eye's finally perceived the "her" his Ghost had been referring to.
It was just a little girl, a little human girl, with stark white, tangled hair, and grey eyes, she couldn't have been more than ten. She was a drab little thing, dressed in what looked like a makeshift tunic made from Fallen banners, she was dirty and frightened. But the thing that surprised Cayde the most, was the Ghost the girl had clasped to her chest, as if it were her only lifeline. It was softly speaking to the girl, telling her that it was all right, and he was a friend, who was here to help. It was so quiet that Cayde swore he could hear the child's heartbeat racing through her chest.
The Exo stood awkwardly, he had little to no experience dealing with children, he had no idea what to do. However his Ghost quickly came to his aid.
"Your Ghost is correct, we're here to help." he said gently, "This is Cayde, and I'm his Ghost, just like your Ghost." Cayde's Ghost came to hover next to the girl, who still seemed apprehensive, but more relaxed than she was a moment ago. She reached out and tentatively brushed the Ghost with the tips of her fingers.
"We can trust them?" she whispered, releasing her Ghost, so she could interact with the two strangers.
The child's Ghost began scanning Cayde, who was still standing in mild shock at the situation.
"Yes! Yes! We can trust them!" her Ghost said excitedly, quickly flying back to the child's side.
"Cayde?" his Ghost questioned, "You're being uncharacteristically quiet."
Cayde snapped out of his trance and refocused on the girl.
"I'm just, eh… Surprised, that's all." he rubbed the back of his neck with a hand, and moved toward the girl slowly, trying his best not to startle her. Cayde crouched a few feet short of her and said, "As my Ghost said, I'm Cayde, Cayde-6, it's, uh, nice to meet you." He held out a hand and waited for the girl to accept it.
She didn't take it right away, but instead looked to her Ghost, who bobbed encouragingly.
The girl slowly reached out to shake the Hunter's hand. Cayde was surprised to find that she possessed a strong and firm grip for someone who was so young, although, her hand barely covered the surface of his palm.
The girl was studying him with awe filled fascination, and slight fear. Understandably, Cayde had many questions, was this girl a Guardian, or was this someone else's Ghost? How did she get here? Was it this girl who had sent out the clever signal? And most importantly, how was he going to get her out of here.
"We need to get moving." Cayde's Ghost interrupted his thoughts. I sense Fallen forces closing in on this location, I think your little trailblazing antics didn't go unnoticed."
Cayde cursed quietly, Great, this was just what he needed. He straightened and turned to question the girl's Ghost, "there are a whole lotta questions I need answered." he began, "So you're going to spill the beans as soon as we board my ship. But right now I need to know if she's capable of keeping up with me, or if I need to carry her." He finished.
The Ghost looked from him to the girl, and replied, "She's weak, I've done what I can, but there's only so much I can do when there's no food and little water for her."
Cayde nodded, and held a hand out to the girl, "Come on, climb up and hold onto my shoulders, I'll get you out of here in one piece kid, promise." He added with a reassuring grin.
The girl hesitated but a moment before accepting Cayde's outstretched hand, and the Exo easily swung her onto his back, where she clung tightly to his neck. Cayde couldn't help but notice how light she was, he barely noticed a difference in weight. Looking to his Ghost for what came next, they headed down a narrow passageway on the left side of the small room the girl had been found in.
"This way." Cayde's Ghost whispered, as he ran. They continued on like this for some time, taking one passage after another, until the Hunters Ghost stopped abruptly.
"What is it?" Cayde asked in a low tone.
"Fallen." his Ghost replied, "Directly ahead of us."
"How many?"
"About a dozen in all."
Cayde nodded, that wouldn't be a problem. He set the girl down saying, "Wait here. There are some bad guys I gotta deal with, ok?" She nodded, and sat with her knees drawn up to her chest, patiently waiting.
Cadye drew his hand cannon, the Ace of Spades, and carefully made his way toward the source of danger.
At the end of the passage, lay a large rectangular room, massive storage crates lay scattered about its expanse, the perfect cover. And sure enough, a group of a little over a dozen Fallen paced the center of the room, seemingly oblivious to his presence. The exit he was stationed at was near the ceiling, giving him a fantastic overview of the field.
"All right Ace, don't let me down now." he said to his hand cannon, before popping a grenade off his belt and chucking it into the midst of the Fallen. Startled, a Vandal went to examine it, Cayde aimed and fired, detonating the grenade, successfully wiping out more than half of the beady eyed aliens. The Hunter lept of his perch, right in the middle of the spooked Fallen. He activated his Golden Gun, took aim at a Fallen Captain, and two Vandals, making quick work of the three.
The rest, one Vandal and two Dregs, he finished off with good old Ace. "All in a day's work." Cayde declared, playfully spinning his gun around his finger and back into its holster.
A scream rang through the room, sending a chill up Cayde's synthetic spine. He spun around to see a stealth Vandal holding a sobbing girl by her hair, a blade was pressed to her throat. Cayde froze, what was he going to do? It wasn't as if she would really die if she was killed, assuming that Ghost was hers, but still. Letting her die would probably cause her to never trust him again. He sighed, and held up his hands in defeat, the last thing he remembered was a sharp shock hitting the side of his neck, then black.
So! What did you think? Please leave a review if you have any concerns, corrections, or brilliant statements! I need as much help as I can get, so if you find a mistake please let me know! Or you can leave a comment saying how much you enjoyed if you want to brighten my day ;). Thank you so much for reading! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day! Love you guys!