The world was quiet, peaceful, and all remained still. A small little light floated about in the ruins of Western Europe. It combed the vast overgrowth that consumed an old flight-line from The Before, a perpetual dark age where mankind lived in ignorant bliss of the battle between light and dark. That all changed however when the Traveler arrived. With its vast Light it raised humanity towards enlightenment and brought about a Golden Age of progress and prosperity. Technology jumped forward 100 years in an instant and for the next few centuries it would make leaps and bounds. There was peace and people couldn't be more happy and proud. We colonized both Venus and Mars, making one a massive center for education and research and the other would become a center for trade and commerce. Earth, humanity's cradle, became our capital where our governments upheld and created laws that kept the peace and all marveled at the Traveller which had made it possible.

But peace is only the prelude to war. What followed next not even the maddest of madmen would've wished upon us.

Everything collapsed.

The righteous turned dark. Enemies showed up from everywhere. The loss was massive. And yet, it seemed necessary. When everything fell apart our Traveller attempted to flee. Instead a Russian AI decided to halt it. It did. Using an arsenal of doomsday weapons, Rasputin took down the Traveler forcing it to remain on Earth as the world it had raised from ignorance collapsed in on itself. The Fallen Skiffs descended from the skies along with Hive Tombships on Earth. Cabal ships came to Mars and the Vex appeared almost everywhere. Against their might we lost everything..

That's supposedly when I died. That's supposedly when Wolf died. That's when Luisa Dodge died.

My name is Jayden Cobalt. I'm a Warlock. I doubt anyone's ever going to read this or even care enough about my fireteam to figure out what happened to us. At the time of writing this we are still alive, stuck on the Dreadnaught with no ships. I'll leave you with my story and if by some cosmic chance you of some future or past happen across it, bring it to the Vanguard and have them lay our team to rest.

The first thing I remember when I woke up was noise. Lots of it. I found myself dressed in white robes pants gauntlets and boots. Had I remembered what I was wearing last I would've questioned what the hell these were. I could feel a helmet on my head too. I stood up slowly trying to get my bearings but only had time to register that some light was flying at me. A blade lowered and the light crashed into it splashing like water and dispersing. A hand grabbed me and forced me back practically throwing me against a crashed rusted car.

"Stay down!" a voice snapped.

Standing in front of me was a girl, clad in skin tight chemical gear. Her helmet made her look all the more intimidating. She had a weapon in her hands, a pistol. No it was bigger..

I couldn't help but stare in awe as her weapon spat rounds with a thunderous roar. Whatever was shooting at us stopped after a little while. She looked down at me, expression hidden behind her helmet, and offered me a hand up.

"Take it easy." she said, "First time resurrection's pretty rough for any Guardian."

I made a face, "Say what now?"

A little machine floated up to me its single eye on me

"Hello Guardian." it said.

"Ghost..." the girl said.

"Right. Listen, Guardian, we'll explain what's happening later. Right now we need to get you to the City."

"Locking for transmat," the girl commented, "Fifteen seconds."

There was a screeching sound off in the distance. A hoard of creatures charged at us, they were hunched over and thin yet they moved swiftly. They had long claws sparking with electricity and no eyes to speak of. There was a second or two when I though the girl was going to be consumed by them as they drew closer.

The last noise I heard that day was a weird almost barbaric grunting a la Conan the Barbarian.

"Hgnnn!" a deep and mechanical voice grunted.

From out of the air, flying at the ground like Superman was another whatever this girl was. A Guardian? He was glowing silvery blue, body encased in lightning as he slammed into the ground sending a shockwave outward. The skinny creatures scattered and disintegrated in the blast. I had to cover my ears because the impact was so loud.

"Thanks Wolf, but I could've taken them." the girl said.

Wolf stood, and walked over point at her gun, "We both know Hawkmoon only has 12 rounds, Luisa. Even with all headshots you would not have been able to stop them."

Luisa shrugged and holstered her weapon as a ship descended from the sky. From the tilt of her head, it seemed Luisa had winked at Wolf, "See you back at the tower."

I felt weightless for a moment and the next thing I knew I was aboard Luisa's ship.

"Strap in newbie, we're taking you home."

I shook my head trying to gather my scattered thoughts.

"Okay what the hell is going on here?"

Luisa had shed her helmet, having set it on the co-pilot seat. Her black hair hung to just above her shoulders and was a little messy. Without looking up at me she answered.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No."

"You're a Guardian now."

"A what? You mean those heroes that protect the Traveler?"

"That's us." she stood after a moment and faced me. Her eyes were a deep blue and her face was young, yet she seemed wise beyond her years. If I had to guess, I'd say she was from the America. Then again she could've also been from Mars for all I knew.

"Name's Luisa Dodge, you?"

"Jayden. Jayden Cobalt."

"Cobalt? I've heard that name before. Can't remember where but I have definitely heard it."

"Yeah, my family made swords and other pre-golden age weapons for art and decoration. We have a shop just outside of Baltimore."

She raised a brow, "What year do you think it is?"

"2140."

"Try 2640,"

The little robot floated up to me again looking me over. Luisa crossed her arms, "You sure took your time finding your Guardian didnt you?"

It faced her, "It's not my fault his signal was coming from one of the darkest parts of the E.D.Z,"

"E.D.Z?"

"European Dead Zone." Luisa commented dismissively, "It covers an area from the UK to just passed the Ukraine." she faced my Ghost again, "You still took half a millennium to find him."

"Again, I blame the E.D.Z,"

"Blame whatever you want, you've got your Guardian now. And from those robes and the bond on his arm I'm guessing he's a Warlock."

"Correct."

I looked at my hands, "A Warlock? Like a wizard? I don't know any magic tricks."

"You'll learn, don't worry about that. Ikora Rey loves teaching."

The ship lurched into a dive not even an hour later. Luisa keyed a comn.

"Tower, Dagger 1 requesting landing clearance."

"Clearance approved, proceed to Hanger 4 1."

"Copy." she clicked off the channel, "Wolf, meet at the usual spot."

"Got it."

The ship dropped in and landed a few minutes later. I waited until the ship stopped before I unbuckled and stood.

"Follow me, and we'll get you set up." she instructed

"You think I want this?"

"Oh trust me, Jay, I know you don't want this."

"What?"

"Hun, you think I wanted this? Hell, I showed up here about a year ago and started thinking to myself well shit, I'm not cut out for this. I barely know how to use a gun or whatever the hell this Light stuff is that's supposedly flowing through me and brought me back to life," she started rambling

I cut her off, "Wait a minute, you didn't want this either? So why are you so bent on setting me up to suddenly have the same life as you."

"Because you don't have a choice. The Traveler chose you to be a Guardian so like or not you're one of us."

We stepped off the ship and outside onto a huge patio atop a great tower that overlooked a city easily twice the size of New York City. There were Guardians everywhere, buying weapons and armor, talking to one another and there was even a game of Keep-Away going on just across from us.

"The Guardian's life isn't so bad when you look at it though."

The ball zipped towards me.

"Heads up!" Someone called.

An instinct kicked in and I caught it without a problem. A group of Guardians came my way all of them about as big, if not bigger than Wolf, or at least they looked like that in their gear. I tossed the ball back as Luisa and I made our way towards a staircase that led below the patio.

"Not so bad you say?"

"That's a voice I haven't heard." Another spoke.

From up ahead was a conference room style table with a map laid out across it. An Exo sporting a hooded cloak was looking at us. There was an Awoken too, standing at the end of the table his eyes deadlocked on me. And then there was Ikora Rey, who watched me with a smile.

"Guys meet Jayden Cobalt." Luisa said.

I'm a bit of an awkward guy so I didn't say much, only tried to keep my nerves under control

"Alright," Luisa said, "From the left that's Cayde-6 the Hunter Commander, Zavala the Titan Commander and then this girl right here, she's your boss that's Ikora Rey the Warlock Commander."

"Welcome to the Tower, Guardian." Zavala greeted.

"Thanks for having me...I guess."

"Luisa," Cayde said, "I want you to keep an eye on this one."

I didn't really acknowledge Cayde's request at the time.

"Why do I have to babysit the newbie?"

"Because I said so...and I think it'll be good for your fireteam to be full again."

I zoned out as Ikora pulled me aside, "Like Zavala said, welcome, there's a lot you have to do here so we'll go ahead and get you started."

"Okay."

"First you need a ship. Go to the Hanger and talk to Amanda Holiday."

"Yes ma'am."

"Do you have any weapons?"

I shook my head in denial.

"Alright I'll talk to our gunsmith and get a weapon for you. We'll go ahead and get you a ship and a room here at the Tower."

Luisa and Ikora led me inside and down a few hallways. She picked a room out, number 311, and handed me the keys

"Your room can be rearranged however you like, we serve meals in the dining hall on the fourth floor the place is open 24/7 and as long as your keep your room in relatively good shape we really don't mind how you live your life." Ikora said

I slipped the key into the metal lock on this simple oak wood door and twisted it until the lock clicked free. By now Ikora had left leaving Luisa and I alone. I stepped inside and looked around. The walls were a silvery white color, there was a single bed, queen sized, that looked fresh made with brand new linens. There was a desk a dresser and a small nightstand all made of treated wood. There was a computer on the desk also, I assumed it had a LAN connection but didn't count on it. There was also a door that led into a bathroom and a closet. I took my helmet off and flopped onto the bed groaning a little. I rolled over looking at the window which had a view of the City below me. The Last City.

"Pretty isn't it?"

I turned back around and there was Luisa, smiling at me.

"Luisa right?" I asked.

"That's me. And it's your lucky day I guess because as of tomorrow you're my team's new Warlock."

"Wait what?!"

"That's what I was saying. I mean, for fuck's sake they should at least get you spun up on how we operate. We don't know your subclass, or what weapons you are comfortable using, or anything important. Wolf and I are already pretty well off with just the two of us."

"Thanks I guess. Look, I don't want to intrude on your fireteam or whatever it's called, you seem to be able to handle yourselves without my help."

"Oh well." Luisa patted my shoulder, "I'm sure you'll do fine. I'm just hoping you're a Sunsinger first and a Voidwalker later."

"I'll pretend I know what that means."

She shrugged, "Eh, you'll find out soon enough. There should be a change of clothes for you in the dresser. When you're on the patio you'll be in your combat gear, helmets are optional."

"Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah, three things. First, don't touch a Hunter without permission, second don't interrupt a Warlock when it comes to any sort of research discussion, and don't fist bump a Titan unless you want a broken hand."

"Okay then. I'll keep that in mind."

Luisa left me her Ghost's frequency and told me to call when I had a ship. She mentioned something about a guy named Shaxx but for some reason I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Despite being in chem gear and sporting a cannon that would make any man jealous, I couldn't help think she was kinda cute. Her hand waving in front of my face snapped me out of my day dream.

"You still there, Jay?"

I shook my head, "Yeah, I'm still here. What were you saying?"

She crossed her arms, "You were checking me out weren't you?"

I felt my face burn, "No! I was um...uh..."

She laughed, "Trust me, you aren't the first Warlock to pay me a compliment." -she winked at me smirking as she did.

My face flustered eveb more red.

"Oh my gods your face. Are you sure you weren't checking out my good looks?"

I didn't say anything.

"Trust me, I'm a little out of your league. When you kill an Ahamkara then we'll talk."

I shook my head before looking around the room again, "So where did Ghost go?"

She held her hand out, light pooled in her palm and a Ghost emerged from the light, "My Ghost is right here. Yours is probably still sitting in you backpack."

I opened my hand turning it palm up and reach down deep focusing on making my Ghost appear. As if on queue the little machine cane forth in a pool of digital light.

"See you around Jay," Luisa said and left.

"Did you catch what she said about Lord Shaxx?" Ghost asked when she was gone.

"No."

"After she shows you around the tower and you are comfortable with finding your way around you're going into the Crucible to train with Shaxx."

"Crucible with Shaxx. Okay got it."

"You should get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."