The (Cabal) Empire Strikes Back

What makes a Guardian, well, a Guardian? I'd say it depends on who you are, what you do, and the choices you make. In my line of work, I've known two kinds of Guardians regardless of their class (Warlock, Titan, and most importantly, Hunter) and subclass (Arc, Solar, or Void): Ghouls and Recruits. Ghouls, like Max, Ikora, Saladin, Anna, or my frienemies, Tevis and Eris, are all bound to their class and can be revived at will. Recruits, like Eriana-3, Felwinter-1, Ouros, Cass, Graham, or myself, have complete freedom to choose what class they want to be and which subclasses to use (Though most of them prefer to stick with the class of their choice), but once they're dead, they remain dead until their Ghost or someone else revives them. (I've known only one Recruit to actually master all of the subclasses, and it pains me to say it, his name is Felwinter.)

There are some Guardians, both Ghouls, and Recruits that have turned to the dark side: Dredgen Yor, Toland, The Shattered, Levithan-3, Erik Larson, Veronica Smith, Jess Malphur, etc. etc. Toland and Leviathan became obsessed with power that came from the Darkness, so they sought to control it, in the case of Yor and Jess, they were transformed by the Darkness, and as for Erik and Veronica, they were already evil when they arose. But do you know what they have in common? All of them were later killed by Guardians who align themselves with the Traveler's Light.

Today, I just want to thank Max and myself for making this Age of Triumph possible, but mostly myself because I got him where he needs to be.

- Cayde-6's journal entry, dated 30th of June, 2762

September 6th, 2762

Cayde walked into the Hall of Guardians eating from a cup of spicy ramen, with noodles hanging from his mouth. That date with Amanda was AWESOME!

His Ghost handed him a napkin, "Wipe your face clean, Cayde!"

"Sorry, Ghost," said the Hunter Vanguard, "But I LOVE spicy ramen!"

"Moreso than Amanda?"

"No," Cayde answered quickly, but his toned down voice spoke the truth, "...maybe." Once he entered the Hall of Guardians, he saw Ikora standing on the left floor, separate from the Vanguard table in the center of the sunken floor, and Anna at the helm of said table. Frames, Humans, and Awoken were stationed at each of the surrounding computers in the room, monitoring the defense, satellite, and sensor feeds from the consoles. As he walked down the half flight of stairs and to his spot on the table, Cayde said, "Ikora, if you tell me, 'This is a practical joke,'" he paused and turned to look at the Warlock Vanguard, "Well it kills me to say it, but I'm damn impressed!"

"Impressing you Cayde, is the easiest thing I'll do all day," remarked Ikora.

Lieutenant Anna R'allu stood in full battle armor except for her helmet, showing off her bright blue skin and wavy navy blue hair cut to medium-short length, and her glowing yellow eyes could pierce any lie that was thrown at her, and as of today, any joke, too. "Let's get serious people..."

Malahayahti stood outside the Guardian break room in the hangar, waiting for an opportunity to charge in and disrupt the FWC's joint-ritual with the New Monarchy. The victim of this ritual was an unwilling Shin Malphur. Both Factions were able to legally kidnap Shin in the middle of the night, stuff her inside a ghastly machine, and see how she connects to a new prophecy. As Sub-Mind of Earth, Mala knew that barging in like a bull would be fruitless, as would waiting too long. She looked in one of the wide-open lockers belonging to a newcomer (newcomers don't rooms or 'stashes' until they prove themselves to the City). Luckily, Mala found a crude flash-bang grenade at the bottom. To the Titan who owns this locker, I sure hope that you won't miss this grenade. She pulled the pin on the side, then tossed the grenade to the center of the group.

Executor Johnson looked at the grenade, was about to shout, "GET DOWN!" but the Arc flash blinded him and the others in the circle around an infernal machine.

Mala freed Shin from the machine, noticed the bruise marks on her arms and head, then said, "I'm here to rescue you!"

Shin almost fainted, but said, "Thank you."

Mala escorted her out of the machine as her Warlock friend regained her strength to walk.

Johnson called after them, "THIS IS TREASON!"

Lakshmi tried to calm Johnson down, "Relax, we have what we need."

Shin held onto her shoulders for a few seconds and mumbled, "prophecy...hybrid...Osiris."

At that moment, Osiris appeared before Shin and said, "We need to talk..."

Cayde perked up, "Anna! This is my serious face, can't you tell?"

Anna ignored the Hunter Vanguard's comment and turned her attention to the Warlock Vanguard, "Commander, what have you got?"

"Someone or something," answered Ikora, "has sabotaged the Skyline Defense Systems."

Cayde turned to his newly-established computers and added, "And comms have been spotty for the past few hours; every sensor and system beyond the wall has gone dark."

Anna looked at her tablet and eyed the windows in a jerk, "Could be a malfunction or this storm," then a chilling thought washed over her, "Or maybe..." She turned to Ikora, "What about the Satellite feeds, and the weather report?"

Ikora looked at her tablet, "Nothing."

"That's good, right?" asked Cayde.

"No!" exclaimed Ikora with wide eyes, "I mean that they've disappeared, and with them, the weather report!"

Cayde's eyes widened as well, "And that's not a good thing."

Anna stared into the black cumulonimbus clouds, then there was a flash of lighting, revealing not one, not 10, not even 100, but 1000 Cabal Warships heading for the City, launching an endless barrage of missiles. "BATTLE STATIONS!" cried the Titan Vanguard into her microphone, delivering the message to all Guardians in the City. She stood near the window and shouted, "Everyone with me, NOW!" and she popped (deployed) a Ward of Dawn, prompting everyone to get inside and stay protected from the barrage. The missiles destroyed most of the consoles and banners; Frames and I.T.'s were caught in the blasts. Cayde summoned his Golden Gun and fired two shots at the Warships, but to no avail. Ikora grabbed Cayde and blinked into the Void bubble, just before an I-beam crushed both of them. As soon as everyone was inside, Anna supplied more of her Void Light to the Ward, keeping it strong against the missiles, until another wave ruptured the bubble, forcing everyone to run for their lives, leaving the Vanguard and Crucible halls in a smoldering mess.

While the Vanguard were discussing their situation, Mala walked out of the break room with Shin resting up against her arms. As she assisted Shin up the steps, Osiris filled the Warlock in about the new prophecy, "This prophecy threatens to bring-"

"-Dagor Dagorath," she finished, "I know, you told me inside the machine. What I don't know is what it's saying!"

They felt the hangar quaking under our feet as more missiles headed towards us. Two Defender Titans ran out of the break room to help them, popping and overlapping their Wards, defending all of us from the missile blasts. "Shin," they said, "we're sorry that we witnessed your suffering and did nothing to stop it. Please accept this as our apology."

"Thank you!" replied the Warlock.

Osiris continued with, "Anyway, shall I recite the Prophecy of the Hybrid?" Shin nodded, and Osiris chanted:

Two sides of a coin, the Light and the Dark,
When they battle and clash, they leave a mark.
A child born underneath a blood moon,
Their destiny is sealed all too soon.
Among the masses, their name shall sew fears,
For their parent, they will reap endless tears.
Hybrid will tilt Universe's balance,
Toward the Light or the Dark Lord's malice.

Shin widened her eyes. The Titans looked at her funny and said, "Too many missiles?"

The two women didn't say a word. Osiris concluded, "That is the Prophecy of the Hybrid, and this time, this prophecy cannot be negated." And he vanished, without a trace.

Dominus Ghaul stood at the bridge of his command ship looking at the insignificant City below. Humanity, what a frail, fragile, weak, and stupid race. They are not worthy of the Traveler or its Light! "Open the Trapper! Set its talons loose on the Traveler!"

The Trapper opened up its needle, revealing 6 different legs, each one acted like an octopus tentacle, latching onto a celestial body, such as the Traveler, and it began to drain the Body's energy source, the Light. Now! thought Ghaul, Time to teach them a lesson about their drug!

I was piloting my ship towards the City after an extensive patrol of the Cosmodrome just to make sure that SIVA was still an asset to us. My Ghost and friend, Jared, opened our comms channel once again, "Repeat, Tower approach. This is City Hawk 723: Anyone home?"

I spoke through the comms, "Shin? Mala? Is everything alright?"

Nothing but silence from the other end. "No responses on any frequencies or amplitudes, not even the emergency ones!" exclaimed the Ghost.

"What on Earth is going on there?" I asked.

After 3 seconds of silence, Jared asked, "Max, remember when I said that you drove too fast in the Before?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, forget my criticisms and floor it!"

I did so, racing through a black smoke cloud, then a red one, reaching the burning City. The ship dropped us off at the wrecked Vanguard Hall. "Our home!" I cried, "Everything is burning down! The Tower, the City!"

"Even the spicy ramen shops!" Jared added.

"Come on!" I said, "There might be survivors! We need to find them and get them to safety!" I ran across to the opposite corner of the Hall, only to find a wall explode in my face, revealing 2 Cabal Legionaries outfitted with improved armor and Arc rifles. I drew my Outbreak Prime and fired at the assailants. Despite their improvements, the helmets could be easily popped, exposing them to Earth's atmosphere and watch them suffocate, or their armor could be battered until their organs are crushed. As I advanced in the hallway, Anna made the evacuation announcement to the entire City, then I saw a Titan fighting off two Cabal Legionaries, only to be grabbed by the neck then smashed into the ground, face first. I avenged the Titan as soon as I could, then moved forward to another door, only to find Cayde-6 open it from the other end with his back. This Vanguard was dressed lightly and wore a cape with a hood that was known as a Hunter's Cloak. His face and eyes were sea blue, as was his rectangular unicorn horn. His mouth was a different story, glowing orange instead of blue.

"Cayde!" I said, "Watch out!"

"Hey, you two!" he said, "Give me a sec!" The Hunter Vanguard pulled out his Golden Gun, fired 3 shots into the 3 charging Legionaries in front of him.

Jared asked, "What is going on out there!?"

"Lieutenant Anna is doing the hero thing in the plaza," answered Cayde, "Me? I've got a date with whoever is behind this. It'll be short and it'll end when a bullet kisses their head!" He ran off without another word.

I ran past him and the Crucible Hall, walking up the stairs while noticing Eris's crushed urns, until reaching a crowd of people guarded by Lord Shaxx. He was a Titan decorated in white and orange with one horn on the left side of his helmet, a broken one on his right, a cape with a fur collar, and Shin's Raze-Lighter across his back. "Over here, Max!" shouted the Crucible Handler.

As I walked by the people, exchanging looks and handshakes, and maybe the occasional Netflix suggestion when all of this is over, I could hear some of them whisper, "It's The Warlock!", "The Hero of the People! He's come to rescue us!", "He saved us from Lysander and the Concordat!", and the one comment that I hoped never to hear, "You don't know how much I love you, Max."

I sighed to myself, then straightened my back for Shaxx, "It's good to see you in one piece, Shaxx. You and these people."

"The Crucible hardened me for this fight! You, on the other hand, faced different trials! And it's good to see you in one piece, too," he opened the next door with his muscles and said, "Take what you need, this goes for all of you here!" gesturing to the people behind him. Everyone rushed inside, I grabbed a sniper rifle and ran out the other door, shooting down Cabal Legionaries as I went through some darkened hallways and rooms just to reach the Hangar. Everyone else followed behind Shaxx and me. Along the way, 2 Centurions came out of one of the last doorways, wielding a 5-barreled cannon and a jetpack. To our surprise, their cannons fired Void shots! Once we took cover, Shaxx exclaimed, "Cabal wielding the Void!? But how!?"

"I don't know!" I answered honestly, "And I don't want to find out today!" I threw a Fusion Grenade at one, then a Storm Grenade at the other, killing both and frying their equipment. "Coast is clear! Let's move!"

As soon as we reached the Tower Hangar, Jared noticed a large Cabal Warship emblazoned with a white, two-layered, rectangular arch on its side, cut at angles facing away from the middle at each end. "Look at the size of that thing!" he said, "That must be their Command Ship!" I turned to the right and fired at the attacking Cabal, protecting the people behind me and 4 Guardians in the middle of the Hangar. One of the Guardians was a Hunter with a purple coat of paint, grey lips, black wires, and white LEDs in her mouth, complemented by her deep green eyes; two of them were Titans, but the last one was a pregnant Warlock, Shin Malphur.

I shouted, "Shin!" and ran over to her, hugging her with both arms, "I thought I'd never see you again."

She rubbed my back and replied, "It's ok, we're here now."

Mala, the purple Hunter said, "I'd love to stick around and chat, but we have people to escort out of the City!"

Shin and I broke away and said, "Agreed, let's go to Anna!" The three of us jumped up to a ledge leading to the Plaza, while Shaxx led his people through a detour into the Plaza.

The three Vanguard came onto the comms, "Ok, Commander?" said Cayde, "My Ghost keeps pinging these Cabal as 'Red Legion.' Do you what that legion is?"

There was a long pause before Ikora answered with, "THEY'RE ELITE! An ancient Cabal faction dedicated to serving their power-hungry commander! Their presence here means that we are not walking out of this fight unscathed at the very least."

"And at most?"

"At most, they'll wipe us into extinction."

"How...cheerful."

"But that is irrelevant! They are threatening the Traveler!"

"Negative!" shouted Anna, "The Traveler can wait, the People come first!"

"But the Legion has never known defeat! They carry a flawless record!"

"And we'll be the ones to shatter it!"

We ran outside after navigating the debris. The clouds surrounding the City were jet black with a hint of fire, covering the sky. Warships hovered over the City, firing at everything in sight except for each other. We took one good look at the Traveler and said, "WHAT THE HELLMOUTH HAVE THEY ATTACHED TO THE TRAVELER!?"

2 big Cabal pods were launched at us, but we backed away just in time. The pods collapsed, revealing 3 different Legionaries in each one, prompting them to fire at us. Unlike the Cabal on Mars where their armor was shoddy and could barely fit together, the Red Legion was equipped with state-of-the-art armor sealants and plasma weapons, with laser shields for the Phalanxes. We equipped our Outbreak Prime Pulse Rifles from behind cover and started firing at the Cabal.

Anna spoke over our comms, "GUYS! RALLY TO ME!"

Once we ran up to Anna, who was near the door to the Iron Banner balcony of the Tower, I said, "Lieutenant! It's good to see you!"

"Likewise, Max! But now's not the time for sentiment, the Cabal have-" At that moment, a Warship launched a barrage of missiles at us and at the two pillars to either side of the Iron Banner Balcony. Anna popped a Ward of Dawn, "Fall back to my position!" We did so, while Shaxx and his people popped up from the Gunsmith's vendor. As soon as the barrage and Ward died, Shaxx ran to the door and held it open for the people to escape, while Anna, Mala, Shin, and I drove the Red Legion away from the doors, away from the civilians. All of us used our Supers at least once when dealing with the Cabal.

Once the civilians were safe behind the door, Shaxx closed it behind himself saying, "Someone needs to defend them!" and he was gone.

Commander Ikora announced over the comms, "Lieutenant, the last of the shuttles is away. But The Speaker...she never made it. I'm going to look for her!"

"I've got the Plaza, go to Commander Ikora and find Speaker Ouros!"

"We're on it, Lieutenant!" I said, leading Shin and Mala through the hallway leading to Tower North. Just before the second doorway in the hallway was a Cleaner Frame that was sweeping up Cabal blood, singing a tune with its beepers that sounded like "Carry on my Wayward Son," and I couldn't help but sing along and pay homage to the Frame.

The door opened up to Tower North, revealing 3 Legionaries that were bombarded by Ikora's Nova Bomb. We ran out to meet her, only to find that the Speaker's Office was removed. We shouted, "Commander!"

"The Speaker is gone!" she cried. Then she turned to an approaching Cabal Thrasher ship, her sorrow quickly turned to anger and rage, and she shouted, "RED LEGION! YOU WILL TAKE NO MORE FROM US! AND YOU WILL FIND NO MERCY FROM ME!" She jumped up, glided over the ship, and hurled another Nova Bomb at the engines, sending it crashing down, taking her with it.

"Ikora!" I cried.

"She'll find the Speaker, I have faith in our Commander," said Anna, "Now head to the other side of Tower North, Amanda Holliday is waiting for you there!

Another pod landed in front of us, releasing 3 easily-killable Legionaries. Behind the doors, opposite where the office used to be was a Cabal Incinerator, complete with heavy armor, a Flamethrower, and backpack Fuel Tank. It blasted open the doors, and we were forced to take cover from its flames' reach. Shin threw a Fusion Grenade at the tank, rupturing it and engulfing the Incinerator in flames. As we moved through the shops in Tower North, Shin and I threw more grenades at the Incinerators, and Mala handled the Legionaries and Centurions, all the way to the other end of Tower North.

Amanda hovered above us in her ship and said, "Someone told me you need some help, wanna lift?"

"Yes!" I said, "Take us!"

Her pitch decreased, "Uhh, I can't do that."

"WHY NOT!?"

"Cause this ship only has room for one other passenger, and I can't fit all 3 of you in the back!"

"Then, who will go?" asked Mala, "Who will risk their lives for us!?"

Shin said, "I'll go, FWC and New Monarchy want me dead, at least let me die fighting the Cabal!"

"No!" said Mala, "You're the Warlock of Legend! You have to live! If you go, Max will tear himself into pieces! I'll go, I'm a Sub-Mind, I can-"

"It's out of the question!" I said, "I'm going!"

Shin looked at me and said, "No!" She launched herself at me, "You can't go! I'll never forgive myself if you do!"

"It's a fool's errand!" barked Mala, "I can copy myself and give you the hard drive to plug into another Exo suit!"

"But it won't be you," I argued, "An important memory could be lost forever, a memory that would only serve to build a better image of you!"

"What if I regain it?"

"A minuscule chance. Besides, you're just as alive as the rest of us."

Mala paused for a while, then said, "But you're..." she trailed off, looking for the right term,

"Human?" I asked.

"...Important!" she corrected, "You and Shin hold this team together through the most difficult of tasks and give us the strength we need to make it through the Darkness! You are irreplaceable!"

Shin nodded, "You are loved by most, worshiped by some, and adored by all! If something did happen-"

"-Then know that I die with honor in my chest, joy in my voice, and love in my heart. None of that can be taken away by anyone, not even an emperor or a god."

Shin walked up to me and kissed me right on the lips (Cliche, I know), for what felt to be the last time, (It lasted 30 seconds to a minute, so yeah). She whispered, "Promise me that you'll return safely."

I answered, "I will."

She broke away from me and said, "I love you!"

"I love you, too!" I replied back, then turned to Amanda, "Beam me up, Scotty!"

The next thing I know, I was inside the back of the ship, listening to Amanda's conversation with Lieutenant Anna. "Lieutenant!" said the Shipwright, "Picked up that Warlock you never shut up about!"

The Titan Vanguard barked, "GET THEM ON THE COMMAND SHIP! NOW!"

Amanda shouted to me, "Hold on, back there!" and flew through rings of enemy ships, explosions, and dogfights, all of which were close to the Traveler. She looked over at the celestial orb and whispered, "Come on, big guy! Do something! Anything!"

No response, as usual.

Amanda flew directly under the Command Ship, pulled up after reaching its nose, then dropped me off at the edge of the pod launcher in the front, saying, "Alright, Max! Time to kick 'em where it hurts!"

"Roger that!" I was dropped off at the edge of the launcher, then ran up the side and into the Cabal Command Ship, slaughtering the Legionaries and hacking a terminal for a map of the ship. "Jared, can you copy this map to your memory banks?"

"Absolutely!" he scanned the terminal and said, "Aaaaand done! The shield generator should be at the back of the ship!"

"Guide me to it!"

"With pleasure! Turn around and go straight."

I ran through the wide archway to the edge of the middle of the ship, then along the edge until I hit my first left. Legionaries and Phalanxes blocked my way, all lead by an Honored Centurion, but I cut through all of them like a hot knife through butter. After taking a few rights and lefts, Anna's voice fizzled through the general comms channel, "Cayde! What...status?"

"Huh?" asked the Hunter.

"What's your status!?"

"Oh! Uh, a little low on ammo, ...my flaming pistol...burning out...news on Ikora?"

"Not since...for Speaker. [explosion] Form up! ...to me!" Then there was silence.

"We need to hurry!" I exclaimed, "Where to next?"

"Straight ahead, under the bridge, then a right."

"Bridge? What bridge!?"

The next doors opened for us, leading to the roof of the Command Ship. Two Psions began to fire concentrated Void Psionic Blasts in my direction and I returned fire with the Outbreak Prime. Straight ahead and angled 45 degrees to be perpendicular to the right-side path was a small bridge leading to a raised platform, opposite it was the door to the next room. "Oh," I said, "That bridge!" Ahead of me was a pathway with a diverting platform full of Legionaries and Psions.

Immediately after cleaning up the first platform of Cabal, A large Centurion stomped out to the bridge and bellowed, "WHO DARES TO KILL GHAUL'S SOLDIERS!?" He stared at me and growled, "I AM BRAUN, THE UNBENT BLADE! AND YOU WILL DIE BY MY HAND!" I dodged out of the way of his Void blasts, returned sniper fire to his head as soon as I could, but had to find cover because of his Void cannon. Then I fired 2 rockets from my Gjallarhorn, ripping 2 new holes into Braun's armor, but barely wounding the Centurion at all. Braun laughed, "As I said, UNBENT BLADE!" And he launched himself in my direction with his jetpack and didn't stop, even after I moved out of the way to avoid being launched off the edge. I turned around, fired at the thrusters, sending Braun screaming and rapidly flailing his limbs as he fell to the ground.

I looked over the edge from a safe distance and joked, "Consider him 'bent'."

Jared laughed, "Heh! Good one!" then straightened himself, "Ok, go straight, then down."

I gave my Ghost a puzzled look, "Down?"

The next room was chock full of Incinerators and Psions on the descent to the shield generator. I nodded, "Down indeed!" I dove to the floor, timing my jump, lining all of their shots at each other, saving my time and ammo, until I ran through the hallway, ripped through the Cabal, and reached a large turbine. "Jared? Any suggestions?"

"Find the power vents. Disable them and the generator goes down!"

"Got it!" I jumped down, threw a grenade at the first one, then jumped up to a raised platform leading to the next vent, being careful to avoid the large honeycomb turbine sweeping across the room. Once I destroyed the second power vent with my Outbreak Prime, I ran to the third vent, getting killed by the turbine just to be revived by my Ghost just to get killed again, but eventually, I made it to the vent and destroyed it, disabling the turbines as well and opening an exit for me.

"Anna!" said my Ghost, "The shield generator is down! We're headed topside!"

Nothing but static.

We ran through a winding hallway before Jared tried again, "Amanda! We need your help to escape! Do you copy?"

Again, only static filled the channels.

"Shin!" I cried, "Can you hear me!?"

Only white noise.

"Shin!? Mala!?"

The comms line died. We rushed out of the hallway and into the open air. I took one good look at the Traveler, and the six-legged mechanical parasite now had its talons fully extended around the white celestial body. Jared asked, "Super. Just how do we come back from this?"

"You don't," boomed a low ominous voice. We turned to find two large Centurions escorting a large Cabal in a regal white suit with gold lining, his face almost looked like Darth Vader semi-masked, except this villain had more lateral wrinkles than burns, and he had a thick triangular mask around his nose and mouth. I aimed my Outbreak Prime and fired on instinct, but the nanites were crushed by the sudden stop of the armor. The Cabal snatched my SIVA pulse rifle and kicked me to one side, "Really? Bullets against my armor?" He crushed the weapon in his hand and tossed me over the side. I whipped out my Gjallarhorn, but before I could fire, the Cabal jumped at me, crushed it and my sniper, throwing both over the side as well, then kicked me farther away from the door. "You think that you're the strongest species alive?"

"I don't think," I muttered, conjuring up a Nova Bomb, "I KNOW IT!" I jumped up in the air, holding my position, aiming for the Regal Cabal's head, ready for the chance to strike.

The Cabal chuckled, held out a vertical button, and pressed it, "Welcome to a world without Light!"

The talons now encased the Traveler in a marigold-colored energy field, my Nova Bomb dissipated, I felt my Light escape from my body, and I fell down to the platform, stomach first, "AUGH!" The platform met my chest with such a force that almost cracked my ribs.

Jared squealed, "Max...the traveler..." then he too fell to the platform.

I glanced at the Traveler one last time, trapped in a force field, its Light cut off from its users, the Guardians. I reached over to my Ghost to protect its shell, but as soon as I lay my hand on Jared's shell, the Regal Cabal crushed my left hand and my Ghost with his right Size 30 foot. I screamed in immense pain, "AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGH!"

"Do not scream or look at me, CREATURE!" He kicked me further down the platform with the same foot, causing my sword, Yuulstrang, the Dark-Drinker, to be separated from my back. The Cabal walked over to me, "You are weak, undisciplined, cowering behind walls!" He crushed Yuulstrang with his right foot, "I have conquered thousands of planets, enslaved and slaughtered millions of people, all in the name of my empire! I alone am worthy of the Traveler's Light!"

"You're wrong!" I spat, "The Traveler sees you as tyrannical, malevolent, and dangerous! We, the Guardians, are loyal to our people, wise leaders to guide humanity toward a New Golden Age, and brave enough to take on any god that threatens our way of life!"

The Cabal crushed my lower legs next. As I screamed, he bellowed, "You are not brave! While all of you were drugged with Light, You have merely forgotten the fear of death!" He held my head back, tilted towards his ugly face just so that he could say, "Allow me to reacquaint you." The Cabal smacked me towards the edge, almost causing me to lose my balance.

As I stared down at the burning City below me, I had a gut feeling that I never felt in over 700 years. I felt fear for the first time in my life as a Guardian, more specifically, a fear of dying. He's right. That fiend was right!

He walked over to me, "Your kind and your City never deserved the power it has given," The Cabal stood over me and said, "I am Ghaul, and your Light..." he pointed to the Traveler, "...is MINE!" With his right foot, Ghaul pushed me over the edge of his Ship.

I screamed as I fell back down to the Earth, my crushed limbs were flapping rapidly against the air, my organs were flung to my rib cage, and then my life began to flash before my eyes; opening my eyes for the first time, my first day of school, my first friends, high school graduation and first day of college, the failed election, escape to Canada, my first Fireteam, Erik's betrayal, World War 3, the Hydrogen Bomb, the raid on Putin's Palace, my resurrection, first missions with Shin, the Black Garden, the Vault of Glass, Crota's End, Oryx's arrival and death, the rise and fall of SIVA and the Concordat, and my relationship with Shin.

Shin. I'm sorry. I'm so so very sorry.

I failed.

My back met the hard and rough ground instantly, the last words I ever heard were a muffled "Max!? MAX!", then my vision blurred to black and my soul faded away.