Chapter 1

Nowhere to Run

The Allied Earth army had held the Fallen a mile outside of The Cosmodrome floor about a week now. I witnessed thousands of Fallen die in the last few days, but I had seen an equal number of us die as well. Both of the skies were at breaking point. All stops are to be pulled, and the cosmodrome must be protected at all costs. Today would be a day to remember or forget.

I arose in my tent after powering down for the last few hours. The rain had stopped and had gathered in undisturbed mud puddles throughout camp. I stepped out of the dark green tent and saw a red sun rising just above the evergreen forest and scattered remains of planes and interplanetary ships. I looked down into on if the puddles.

I saw the blue face and yellow eyes of an Exo staring back at me. Despite its timeless face, the two lights made it look weary and worn; the blue was scuffed and scratched as well. 'At the end of today, I'll either be dead, or celebrating,' I thought. I ducked back into my small tent. I saw where I had taken off my armor, right next to the bedroll given to each soldier in this military. It was dark in the tent. The only illumination was the faint light emitting from the chest piece. I grabbed the pants and slipped on the boots. I pushed them up my legs and pushed a button in the center of the waistline. Several metallic clicks later, my entire bottom half was encompassed in white power armor. I also grabbed the chest piece and pulled it over my head and onto my torso.

I lightly touched the faint, pulsating light and heard another click. The white armor steadily extended from the original shape of the piece and slowly encompassed my bottom part of my chest, then my shoulders and all the way down to my hands. I pulled on the gloves once it finished. I picked up my semi-automatic rifle and helmet. Strapping it to my neck and pulling down the visor, I exited the tent and caught a ride that would charge directly into the fray only a half mile from the camp.

My helmet gave me several targets, most of them lightly-armored dregs. With two arms and the capability to shoot from hand to hand combat, via a small pistol, they were still dangerous. I fired off a few shots while running and shredded the armor and Dreg nearest to me. I saw a few soldiers near me and radioed them. "What have I missed?" I asked as I fired a few more bullets at a group of the Dregs.

A female Exo replied quickly in a panicked voice, "3 waves of Fallen, mostly Dregs and Vandals. Three Captains are on the field right now. There's only a few hundred of us left sir."

"Are you telling me we lost almost 2000 in reinforcements?!" I exclaimed.

"Reinforcements never came. They were shot down while you were gone. I'm sorry sir. We will not win; all we can do is hold the line until the cosmodrome has been evacuated."

"How long will that be?"

"Unclear. We'll just hold it as long as we can. Any plans for a counter-strike?"

I didn't respond. I just kept firing and searching for the Captains. They had four arms like their allies, but had thick armor and a shield around them. That combined with the heavy, four-shot plasma rifle they carried, they devastated our troops. A Dreg came around my piece of cover. I dropped my weapon, grabbed the combat knife stowed in my right boot and slammed it into the Dreg's torso. The Dreg fell dead as I retracted the blade from it. A small amount of its purple and red blood splattered against my white armor. I turned to get my rifle but was met with a white, armored fist. I felt myself fall onto something and darkness enveloped me.

When I regained consciousness, my vision was blurry and slightly off-color. I stared at the ground momentarily, waiting for it to clear. I stood up after I did and looked for my few belongings. My helmet immediately fell off as a heap of crushed alloy. My rifle didn't fare much better.

Nobody was anywhere. Dead bodies of Fallen and Earth soldiers littered the ground. I searched for a while longer, but only turned up dead bodies. A Fallen ship passed overhead, depositing a squad of vandals and dregs along with one captain. While I looked up, I noticed that there were still ships floating about the sky in the direction of the cosmodrome. I started to run that way, hopefully there would be room for me on one of those ships.

I reached it sometime later. The sun was nearly setting and ships varying in size and shape were still coming in and out of view indicating the evacuation was still proceeding. As u came over the hill, I saw a large disheveled mass of people near a door that led inside. I took a step forward but quickly realized something: I was still dressed like a soldier. There was no way the people would let someone on-board who should be protecting them with their life. I threw of the chest piece and leg armor, but kept the boots , they were worth the risk.

A long line of cars stood near the mass of people. Most of them were newer-looking. I stealthily came down the hill and ducked behind one of the cars. A few stragglers ran by. One was alone. I seized my opportunity.

"Hey buddy," I quietly called ducking from behind the car. The lone, cloaked figure pointed to himself and then proceeded towards me.

"What'd ya need?" the figure said in a slurred voice, obviously drunk, probably to cope with the current situation.

Without answering his question, I gave him a strong uppercut to the jaw. The man slumped over immediately, knocked out. I didn't normally injure civilians, but I needed to get out of here. I unceremoniously ripped the cloak off the man and dumped him in a nearby car. I slipped on the cloak and pulled the hood over my head.

I shoved my way through the crowd. The noise was loud in the back, but as I approached, it became unbearable. Thankfully, I didn't have to go much further to find out what was going on.

The doors were shut. Plain and simple. No more would go in; no one would go out.

Numerous humans, Exo, and Awoken were ask banging on the large doors in hopes of getting in, but no such rescue would doors were sealed. Suddenly, a loud, guttural roar resounded throughout the area. All heads turned to the hill I had come from.

Two Dregs and Vandals along with one Captain stood on top. While the Captain hung back, the Vandals and Dregs charged, slaughtering all without hesitation and with extreme prejudice. The vandals shot left and right while slicing through the large group. The dregs assaulted with smaller blades in each of their arms. Hacking through a large portion of the crowd. Needless to say, it was not a pretty sight.

I ran the other way. I ducked behind a green car and took cover, hoping they wouldn't notice me. I pushed into the wicked and saw that a man had the same I idea as me. Only, he had broken into the car and was watching out the window. The captain fired off his weapon. The first of the four balls of energy destroyed the window (the man had ducked just in time), the second destroyed the door, the third struck the man in the head and caused him to fall back, dead, and the fourth humbled my angle of observance.

At that moment, one if the dregs cane around the car. Before it noticed me, I had stabbed it in the foot with the knife in my boot, punched it in the head with my left hand and plunged the knife deep into its chest just like the one a few hours earlier. The other Dreg came around when it noticed its comrade was in trouble. I threw the knife at it and hit it square in the head.

The vandals came around both sides of the car. As they encroached, I stuck my hands out to possibly deflect their blades. I closed my eyes as I did this, waiting for the pain to come. It never did.

There was a loud boom. I opened my eyes and saw both vandals airborne. They slammed into the ground a few seconds later either dead or seriously injured. I turned to get back in cover. A fist slammed into my back before I could do so. I landed face first into the car.

I turned myself around in time to see the Captain standing over me when two fists reared back to finish me off. They shot forward. I felt the impact, and then nothing.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Time passed while I sat in that void; I was sure of it. I was dead, forever doomed to sit here in this Darkness. Suddenly I heard something.

A distant voice sounded from far away saying, "Guardian. Eyes up Guardian." I paid no attention to the disembodied voice because I realized my eyes were open. The Sun illuminated the cosmodrome and its dilapidated frame. All the cars here were now rusted and falling apart. Several of the satellites that had once adorned its roof were severely broken or non-existent.

A floating device hovered in front of me now. I backed away quickly but moved nowhere as I was already pushed against a car. It hovered only a foot or so from my face. A blue eye was illuminated against a darker outside with white, pyramid-shaped extensions around it. It seemed as if the machine was split in half at the back as the rear "spikes" rotated some. The pyramidal plates around the eye moved as it spoke. "It worked! You're alive. You don't understand how long I've been waiting for you. Let's just say, you've been dead for a very long time, and you're about to see a lot of things you're not going to understand."

"Who or what are you though?" I questioned rather loudly.

"I'm a Ghost. Actually, I'm YOUR Ghost. We assist the Guardians as they work to defeat the darkness." the white orb thing said. A roar then sounded over the area. Very similar to one coming from a Fallen Captain. They were near. "We have to go. This is Fallen territory."

"How do I know you're not one of them leading me to a trap?" I swiped at the machine with my hand several times. It easily dodged each grab with a graceful increase or decrease in its low altitude.

"You don't. You're going to have to trust me on this one. I didn't bring you back to life, just for you to die again." It retorted rather sternly.

"And I'm supposed to listen to some AI I just met?" I was now shouting.

"Says the robot."

I didn't get easily offended, but that hurt. "Exo! Huge difference! Robots are slaves, Exos are sentient. I ought to break you apart for that!"

"Try me."

I lunged at the Ghost. As soon as I touched its white shell, it disappeared in a small wisp of blue light. "Where'd you go?"

"Don't worry. I'm still with you." I heard it's slightly lower tenor voice say inside my head.

"I never wanted you in the first place." I said in a hostile manner.

"Do you want to survive?"

"That would be preferable, yes."

"Then follow my directions. We need to get you to the City. Let's move."

I started walking forward. It was only after a few steps that I noticed that I was heavier than before. I stopped walking and looked down at my hands and feet. They were armor encased my torso, legs, and arms. My feet were covered by boots that were not mine, while my hands were covered likewise with a black, rubber-like substance covering the gripping side of my hand.

"What's wrong?" The Ghost inquired.

"Where'd this armor come from?"

"Standard issue. Sorry if it's a little bulky. It's Titan armor. I had to give you some sort of defense otherwise the Fallen would tear you to shreds and our efforts would be in vain. Is something wrong?"

Thoughts of what felt like my recent past swirled in my head. I had a decision to make. I could tell the Ghost what happened apparently some centuries before, or hide it for now. I chose the latter. "It's nothing let's get going."

"One moment actually. I need to give you a helmet. Hold out your left hand."

I did so. Nothing happened at first. Momentarily, a misty blue haze formed filled my a flash of light of the same color. The Ghost appeared and said, "Boo!"

Surprised, I extended my left arm and forward, in order to push the Ghost away, and fell backward. As I did so, a purple orb rapidly expanded in my hand and made a sound similar to the ancient rifles that used gunpowder in the ammunition rather than plasma. All that happened in a fraction of a second. Caught in the small blast, the Ghost went flying for several seconds. It regained stability and came back to where I lay on the ground, propped up on my right elbow.

All it said was, "What the Heck was that? If that was a Warlock Melee Blast, that is probably the strongest one by far by any Guardian. I should know, I've seen many warlocks in combat while I've been looking for you. Of course, we still don't know what Guardian you are. That'll be the Speaker's job. I'll just cough that up to the new connection between you and the Traveler."

"Warlock? Guardian? What are you talking about? I'm connected to the Traveler?"

"As I said, you're going to see and hear things you don't quite understand, but I'll explain the Traveler connection thing as it's the most important. Us Ghosts were made by the Traveler in its dying moments. We spread its light with our Guardians assigned by the Traveler. It watched Earth and its inhabitants during your life and deemed you, along with thousands or perhaps million of others, worthy of carrying on what it could not."

"And what would that be?"

"Light. Plain and simple. Now hold out your right hand. I have to give you a helmet otherwise your armor is basically useless. And with the Fallen crawling around, we can't have that."

"No tricks this time?"

"None."

Still suspicious, I held out my right hand nonetheless. The Ghost disappeared from view, but I could feel it's presence in my mind. A wisp of blue light appeared and banished just as quickly. Some sort of helmet ushered from it. It was heavy, the unexpected weight caused me to drop it when it hit my hand. It was very slightly curved in the front with an indented area spanning across the top. The indent didn't quite reach the sides of the helmet, instead it went down at the middle. Forming a curved T shape. It was white like the rest of the armor.

Noticing a flaw, I said, "It's completely enclosed. How am I supposed to see?"

"Just put it on." The Ghost reiterated.

I slipped the helmet on. Everything went dark. A click sounded below me. Images of what was around me projected in front of me, followed by a live feed and heads up display. Suddenly, I could see again. "Now do you trust me?" the Ghost asked. "I've given you armor."

"I'd trust you more of I had a weapon."

"They didn't give me that when I was first sent to look for you."

"They? Who's they?"

"I'll explain on the way. We need to find a ship to get out of here. Let's get moving."

Grudgingly, I started walking towards the door. The sane one that had been closed on me quite some time ago. It didn't even exist anymore, but I still felt barred from normalcy. I strode through the door, into the unknown.