Rebirth

Somewhere in what used to be the southern portion of the United States of America. 5 years prior to the events of the Destiny main campaign.

The air was still and stifling. Titan Claney Beamard stood watching as a small group of civilians loaded into a transport ship. Three days ago, the Tower had received a distress call from a small settlement in the area that had come under attack by a band of Fallen. These people had managed to eke out a living in the years after the collapse, somehow avoiding notice of the alien scavengers. A Hunter had discovered the settlement years ago, and they had declined her offer of an escort to the Last City. They were determined to make it on their own, so the Hunter had wished them luck and left behind an emergency communication device. It seems as though their luck finally ran out.

Claney had been part of a strike team comprised of himself, another Titan named Iniko Tosia, and a Hunter named Jarus Corbin that had been sent to assist. They had barely arrived in time. As their ships screamed through the sky on approach, they saw the Fallen breach the ramshackle wall the settlers had built around their town. The humans had obviously put up quite a fight leading to the break in their defenses, as Claney could see a surprising number of Dreg and Vandal corpses scattered around the perimeter. Even at that moment, Dregs were dropping as they worked to pry at, and widen, the hole they had made. The townspeople had taken many casualties as well and it was clear they could not hold out much longer.

The three Guardian's transmatted into the chaos. Claney dropped into the middle of the town's defenses and immediately began taking heavy fire from the invading Fallen. Shields barely holding, he began firing his heavy machine gun into the breach. The resulting shrieks from the Fallen brought cheers from the harried defenders. The Hunter and the other Titan came down outside the city on the other side of the enemy force, presenting a second front for the Fallen to worry about.

The new arrival threw the Fallen into disarray, but it lasted only a few moments. A Captain in their ranks was able to rally its troops, regrouping away from the breach, using the wall to protect them from the more numerous defenders while turning to face the smaller force that had appeared outside. Vandals with wire rifles spread out in an attempted to flank the two Guardians, firing from multiple angles while Dregs attempted to find cover behind rocks and damaged vehicles to take potshots at them.

Iniko grinned inside her helmet and summoned a lightning grenade. Throwing it as hard as she could, it sailed past the huddled Fallen, sticking to the town wall and blasting lightning back in the direction it had come. Several enemy fighters were thrown forward as the Arc energy lanced into them.

"Ha! How about that 'nade?" she shouted to Jarus.

"Yes, yes, very nice. Now how about we kill the rest of them before celebrating."

Jarus took aim with his sniper rifle, picking off several of the Vandals before having to take cover himself. Arc bolts peppers the trees, ground, and rubble around them. Iniko focused on the Dregs, trying to take them out as they leaned out of cover to shoot. A three round burst from her pulse rifle caught one Dreg in the head, puffs of ether escaping as it fell dead.

Claney emerged from the breach, now having switched to his scout rifle. It kicked in his hand as he fired several shots at nearby Fallen. This distracted them enough that Iniko was able to charge forward, closing the gap. The Captain shouted a warning to his Dregs, but he was too slow. Iniko leapt forward, gathering Arc light to her on the way down, slamming into the ground in the middle of the Fallen. The shockwave of her Fist of Havoc spread outward, lifting the Fallen caught within its range, flinging them aside as they died. Simultaneously, Jarus activated his Golden Gun, firing pure Solar light at the remaining Vandals, bringing them down.

The threat neutralized, the Guardians stepped back through the breach to aid the remaining population. There were cheers and thanks, of course, though it was also apparent that the display of power had also made some of the people wary of the three. Humans weren't supposed to be able to summon lightning in their fists or magically producing flaming weapons. They had all heard stories, of course, but actually seeing it in action was a something different. Some of the unease lessened when Jarus removed his helmet, his dark skin and easy grin clearly as human as anyone else gathered there.

Over the next couple days, the Guardians had helped repair the town and the breach in the wall. The offer to move people to the Last City was made again, and this time many of the townspeople had decided to accept the offer to be relocated. A transport ship was called and arrived on the third day. For those that wanted to stay, the transport dropped off food stuffs and weapons.

The transport lifted into the air and turned east, beginning the long flight back to the Tower. Iniko left immediately after, while Jarus has to extract himself from a small crowd of women who seemed very sad to see him go. Claney prepared to join them in orbit, when a glint of light caught his eye. Something metallic was moving near the settlement wall.

Claney drew his weapon, a scout rifle he'd won in an Iron Banner event the previous year. Keeping an eye for any other motion, he cautiously approached the place that he had seen the flash. He relaxed suddenly when he discovered the source. It was a Ghost, flitting near the wall. It seemed be searching for something.

"Hello, little one," he said, but the Ghost offered no response. Instead, it turned suddenly, swaying back and forth a few times, before darting away. Curious, Claney followed the small, star-shaped object as it crossed a field and disappeared into a stand of trees.

"Should I be jealous?" the voice of his Ghost, Elgan, questioned in his coms.

"Quiet, you," the Titan replied, "I just want to see where it's going."

"A Ghost out here, alone? There's only one thing it could be doing, trying to find its Guardian."

"There are Fallen nearby. Not exactly a safe place to be poking around," Claney said, glancing around.

"There are Fallen everywhere," was the retort. "If I had stopped searching due to their patrols, you'd still be dead."

As if on cue, a Fallen called from somewhere nearby. A hunting call. They'd seen something. Claney was willing to guess it was the Ghost. An electronic trill sounded from just further up in the trees. As quickly as he could move through the underbrush, Claney crashed his way forward, concerned for the fate of the little Ghost. The Traveler had produced the Ghosts with its dying breath, and they'd already lost so many. He'd die before he let the Fallen kill another one.

They came to a stop when they found the ruin of an old house, obviously abandoned for decades. Most of the structure had collapsed, and vegetation had over grown what remained. Something about this scene seemed to trigger a memory, a sudden feeling of familiarity, but Claney pushed it away. Light flickered inside, and Claney got a glimpse of the Ghost, it's shell expanded, light emanating out of it, directed to something out of his field of view.

The Fallen called out again, closer now. Claney ducked into the ruin of the home just as the Ghost collapsed back in on itself and let out a worried sound. Looking at the ground, the Titan saw the body the Ghost had revived.

There lay a red-haired human girl, no older than 14 or 15. She was clothed in a body suit, but the Ghost had not given her armor, nor had it completed the revive process, as she was not breathing. Elgan materialized near Claney and scanned her.

"Why did you stop?" he asked the other Ghost.

"She's too young," the other Ghost replied in a masculine voice that sounded very young itself. "She can't be a Guardian. What do I do?"

"You'll finish reviving her before the Fallen find us, we'll take her back to the Tower, and then figure it out from there," Claney snapped. The Ghost bobbed up and down in the familiar nodding motion, then opened his shell again, bathing the figure in light.

She coughed suddenly and sat upright, blue eyes darting around in panic. When they saw Claney, she screamed and scrambled back from him as quickly as she could before she collided with a wall. Her Ghost tried to move in to introduce itself, and she swatted it out of the air. Claney knelt down, bringing himself to her level in an attempt to appear less threatening. It did not work. Reaching around frantically, the girl grabbed a chunk of the crumbled wall and threw it at him.

"Okay, you need to quiet down and stop doing things like that," the Titan said. Remembering Jarus and the townspeople, Claney scooted away from her and brought his hands to his helmet. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to take my helmet off. Please don't throw anything at my face."

He removed the helmet and set it on the ground, revealing fair skin and close-cropped red hair, almost the same shade as hers. He tried giving the most reassuring smile that he could. The girl seemed to calm down a little, and she looked at him curiously.

"My name is Claney," he said to her calmly and quietly, "Claney Beamard. I'm a Guardian from the Tower. I'm here to help you. I know things don't make any sense to you at the moment, but they will soon. Right now, we need to think about getting out of here, otherwise some bad people are going to come. Will you come with me?"

Claney offered his hand to the girl, but she shook her head, pushing back against the wall as hard as she could. He sighed and lowered his head before grabbing his helmet and rising to his feet. Leaving the girl's Ghost to try to calm her, he turned and walked through the crumbling doorway.

"I wouldn't trust our luck enough to assume the Fallen didn't hear that scream," his Ghost said through internal coms. "We're going to have to move very soon."

"What, just transmat her with no warning, rush to get her to the Tower, and have a panicked teenage girl destroy my ship or throw things at me as I try to fly? I'll pass."

"We might not have much choice."

The Titan sighed again and turned to reenter the building. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed an object flying through the air toward him. The shock grenade landed at his feet and he dove through the door quickly, rolling as he hit the ground, coming up to one knee and drawing his scout rifle in one smooth motion.

"Fallen!" Elgan announced unnecessarily.

Claney located a Dreg at the tree line, presumably the one who threw the grenade. One squeeze of the trigger and its head disappeared, leaving behind a puff of ether. Almost immediately, a squadron of Shanks appeared, firing Arc blasts as they emerged. Claney took two quick steps to move closer to the girl. Concentrating on the Void, he flung out his arms, putting a Ward of Dawn up to cover the both of them.

"Ghost, get some armor on that kid," he shouted. The Ghost bobbed again, quickly breaking down portions of the ruins and fabricating some basic armor around her. While it covered her, Claney stepped out of his bubble to return fire at the shanks. Each exploded in a shower of sparks and metal after a few shots. Emptying the clip at them, Claney started to reload when something hit him hard from behind.

While he had focused on the Shanks, two stealth Vandals had slipped around behind him. The nearest was bringing its swords down at his head as he turned to face them. He brought is scout rifle up quickly to block the cut. It deflected the blow, but shattered the rifle.

"Elgan, get me something else quickly!" Claney shouted to his Ghost. Dropping the broken weapon, he swung his fist, striking the Vandal in the side of its head. Tapping into the Void again, he swung once more, this time the contact released the energy, causing the Vandal to howl in pain as it disintegrated. Another scream sounded, and Claney looked to see the second Vandal advancing on the girl who was throwing anything she could get her hands on at the alien while crab-walking backward.

"I've got something," Elgan said, and Claney held out his hand. A shotgun materialized in his hand and he brought it to bear quickly.

"Hey!" he yelled at the Vandal, drawing its attention before letting loose a stream of buckshot. Two close-range blasts took the second alien down. Claney turned to the girl and held out his hand again. This time she took it and he raised her to her feet, handing her the shotgun.

"We don't have much time, so I'm going to say this quick. Whoever you were in your past life, I'm going to guess you weren't a soldier like most Guardians. To be honest, I don't think I was either. Regardless, your Ghost should have given you some basic knowledge in the revive process. Do you know how to use this gun?"

The girl nodded her head quickly, shifting the gun around in her hands to hold it properly. Arc bolts struck the structure around them or fizzled against the Titan's Ward while he spoke.

"Good. Now, you see this bubble around us? It's called a Ward of Dawn. It will stop any shots or anything they throw at you. You stay inside it. If one of them comes in, you shoot them. You'll have five shots before you need to reload. These are ammo synths," he held out some purple objects. "Activating them creates ammo for the gun. I'll leave some here if you need them. Elgan, give me another weapon and then call for the ship."

The Titan held out his hand and his Ghost transmatted in an auto rifle. Giving the girl what he hoped was a reassuring pat on the arm, he stepped out of the Ward of Dawn to take on the rest of the Fallen force. The girl gripped the shotgun, watching intently as the armored man leapt into action. All around, the Fallen fell one by one, either shot by the auto rifle or taken out by a grenade. She saw several shots hit him as well, and he staggered, but never stopped moving.

As she watched, she noticed a shimmering shape, similar to when the creatures had first attacked her, darting behind the Titan. Without hesitating, the girl charged out of the bubble, pointing the gun and pulling the trigger. Buckshot tore through the shape, and a Vandal appeared, falling dead to the ground. The man whirled around and saw the dead alien with the small armored figure standing, gun in hand.

"Nice work, kiddo. Now, we need to get out of here before more of them show up. Will you come with me?" the Titan asked as he returned to her side and the Ward of Dawn winked out of existence. The girl nodded. Claney braced for the familiar feel of the transmat at it transported the two of them to his ship, a Phaeton class ship he had named Lost Days. Once aboard, he removed his helmet again. She watched him do it and then reached up, unfastening her own and removing it. There was still uncertainty behind her blue eyes, but most of the fear had faded.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yes. Thank you," she replied, glancing around at the cramped interior of the ship, eyes taking in every detail.

"Good. Like I said before, my name is Claney, and I am a Guardian. I'm going to take you somewhere safe, okay?"

"Okay," she said with another nod.

"I know things are strange, and I bet you've probably noticed that your memory is fuzzy at best. Your Ghost, that little spiky guy floating right there, he'll talk to you about what is happening while we fly to the Tower. Do you at least remember your name?"

"My name…" the girl thought for a moment, her face twisted in confusion. "My name… is Celeste."

"Well, Celeste, it's nice to meet you," Claney stated, settling into the pilot seat of the ship. He set course for the Tower and began the long flight home.

Celeste settled in on the bunk toward the back, and her Ghost flittered over to her. Its shell twisting and turning as it thought about the best way to approach her. It had nearly figure out what to say when the girl took the initiative.

"Hello," she said, reaching up a hand and tapping her finger against one of its edges. "So you're a Ghost?"

"Hello, Guardian" it said in its soft, boyish voice, "yes, I am a Ghost. Your Ghost. I've been searching for you for a very long time. It's nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too. Now… tell me everything," she said eagerly.

...

AN: Repost of something I put up a couple weeks ago, now with about 600 additional words. Felt it needed a little more room to breathe.