I
Standing at the edge of the Tower overlooking the Last City was a strange feeling for Wade. On one hand there was the singular, constant reminder of everything the Guardians fought for; the protection of Earth and its residents, all in one place. But on the other hand the titan had to wonder, did they even know? So much had happened in just the two years since he had been found by his Ghost in some old subway station. From what the little companion told Wade, he hadn't been much more than bones and dust when he was found, but something inside of him had welcomed the Traveler's light and he was resurrected to carry on the fight against the Darkness. That alone would sound like the ravings of a madman to most normal people, how do you explain further everything that happened after that?
Still growing into his new powers, throwing punches full of lightning, fire, and something else, he was to put down a Vex invasion. The Machine Lords obsessed with the perfection of the universe were all but ready to dominate the earth from mars when a handful of guardians took the offensive and brought their god to ruin. Wade had been a part of that fireteam only at six months old, much to Zavala's ire, who wanted him to remain in the crucible to continue training. Not long after that, the Hive rose up from the moon to be put down over the next few months, only so they could help their Awoken "allies" with a Fallen insurrection. Wade had been through all of these battles; he had seen kings rise from the other side of the galaxy, and brought down armies with only a gun and a friend.
So he had to wonder if these people knew what the guardians sacrificed for their safety. Was the Tower just a building to them? He didn't know how long he had been lost in thought when his Ghost materialized in front of him, its eye lit up green with a new message. Wade looked up in acknowledgement.
"Something new?" Was he hopeful? Maybe he needed a distraction more than a vacation.
"A new message at least, it's from Zavala. He says you are to meet with the Vanguard for a briefing. Looks like our break is over." There was a sigh in its little metallic voice followed by disappointment, which gave Wade a small laugh and made him wonder again if the Ghosts were machines after all.
"Looks like it, let's see what the powers that be have in store for us now." Ghost disappeared and he stood up, stretching in his armor while he gave the City one last look before turning towards the Hall of the Guardians. You could just make out the vehicles moving like ants across the far distant ground between the tall buildings. Perhaps they were ants and nothing more, a small part of him thought darkly, and he set off at a brisk pace towards the briefing area. The Tower itself was as bustling as it usually was, with a couple dozen Guardians moving from the vendors and their computerized vaults to stow equipment for later use, just in case. Most of the Guardians hadn't payed a second glance his way, reasonably so, as they were only too busy themselves with their own assignments. A couple looked up and gave him a nod before going about their business, and Wade ducked into the corridor to the briefing room.
And there was Commander Zavala standing at the table with Cayde and Ikora. The three of them were all studying maps with their typical intensity and broodiness that was singular only to them. Cayde and Ikora both stood tall in their command, Ikora straighter than Cayde, and yet Zavala had more than a head and shoulder on both of them. As odd as it sounds, it felt like that was the chief quality that made him the de facto leader of the Vanguard, even though they were equals. At that point Zavala lifted his head, as if he could hear somebody in the room thinking about him, and locked eyes with Wade standing in the doorway. He excused himself from the table and motioned for the greener Titan to follow him into one of the smaller rooms on the side, and Cayde muttered something witty enough to make himself chuckle. Ikora looked at the Hunter without raising from her planning and shook her head derisively.
The interior of this room was far different than the naturally lighted strategy center they had just left, with much less light to go with the diminished space. There were only two fluorescent light bars on the ceiling and no windows to let in the sun, unlike the greater room outside. Hanging on the wall were a handful of paper maps of the City, each one depicting a different sector of the metropolis, that looked far too old to be reliable. Wade had to wonder for a brief second why they hadn't the Holo-Map outside, then dutifully decided there must be a valid reason for the tight quarters and outdated maps. Zavala studied these maps with some scrutiny then turned to face Wade with his arms behind his back; the habits of a soldier don't die with command, it seems.
"I appreciate your quick response Guardian. Too often, I radio somebody for an assignment and I am forced to pass the responsibility to another, less experienced, Guardian due to delay." he closed his eyes, which glowed blue in the dim room, and bowed his head swiftly as a sign of courtesy before continuing. "That being said, we must get to business. Have you ever thought of the City, Guardian?" his question came with barely a pause between sentences and seemed out of place, Wade was somewhat taken aback.
"Sometimes, sir." he cleared his throat. "In fact, I was actually just thinking about it when I got your message." There was no way, he thought, but could Zavala actually read minds? There wasn't much known about the Awoken race, after all. Immediately his train of thought was derailed as Zavala continued, grabbing Wade's attention again.
"Very good, sometimes a single thought of all the lives depending on your success are what propels you over the line of death, and to victory. Most of the time, that service goes unrecognised because of our seclusion in the Tower. Do you know the reason we stay apart from the City, why we have limited disclosures on our missions? Our fights?" his eyes darkened almost physically. "Our sacrifices."
"No, sir."
"Because if they knew exactly what we fought, and all the danger they faced unknowingly, they would volunteer. There's no telling how many civilians would take up arms and try to fight the Darkness on their own, or by our side, but we are chosen. The Ghosts found us, and we were destined to combat the Traveler's enemies." Zavala's face seemed pained as he thought of the potential loss of life. "And we are so few, Guardian. We don't have enough civilians to justify their sacrifice, and we would face extinction anyway. That lack of communication is their final bulwark." he paused for a moment before continuing.
"It's not ideal and a delicate balance at best, but we've received intel from our sources in the city that there is an unknown presence among the populace. We don't know if it's Fallen, Hive, or what, but i need you and one other Guardian to go down there and scout it out, then report back to me. We can't let this disrupt what little peace we have, do you understand?" Zavala resumed his commanding posture with an imposing stare that could root you to one spot for as long as he wanted. Wade snapped a salute crisply to his chest.
"Sir, yes sir." now was not the time for informality, and he was already running down the list of Guardians in his head that he would trust with this precarious sounding assignment.
"Then get out of here, Titan, and may the Traveller's Light be with you." There was nothing more to say, Zavala relaxed his shoulders infinitesimally and strode out of the room and into the much brighter strategy center where Ikora seemed not to have left her spot once, but Cayde had just returned to his original posting, having just returned from listening on the other side of the door, no doubt. He grumbled and pretended not to notice that Wade had walked past him, feigning surprise at the Guardian.
"Oh, hello there, I hadn't even realized you two had left." he took Wade's hand by surprise to shake it, and pulled him close to whisper in his ear. "I heard what he said, but it's not the Fallen. Go to the abandoned south tower, you'll see what I mean. There's a little present there from me too." Cayde's voice resumed its normal volume as he pushed back to an appropriate distance for casual conversation. "Hm, what? No I'm sure Zavala will trust your judgement on who to bring with you." and he added with faux regality, "Godspeed, Guardian. We rest our hopes on you." he didn't wink but the light in one of his eyes blinked while the other stayed lit, giving the appearance of a wink. Cayde snapped his own salute, an old fashioned one where his hand rested against his forehead and Wade left the trio to their own business.
…
In what might have been less than a minute, Wade's small ship was hovering above the empty tower of the southernmost part of the City's Wall. He and his Ghost looked down at the building from inside the cockpit dubiously.
"What do you think, is it empty?" he asked aloud.
"Our personal record says no, but what would want to live in a dusty old tower alone without power?"
He thought about it briefly.
"Yeah, maybe we'll get lucky." the display on his dashboard started to light up a few spots here and there throughout the model of the tower. "Oh look, Fallen."
"...I'll get the guns." the Ghost dissipated back into Wade's armor and he began the transmat protocol to descend down into the tower.
If you've never experienced transmat before, let me describe it for you now. It's kind of like going on a roller coaster that consists of nothing but loops. Even though you're standing in one spot, you can feel yourself pulled forward and spinning over and over yourself endlessly. After a moment your stomach starts turning out of synch with the rest of you, seeming to flip in the opposite direction of the rest of your body until you can't stand the feeling anymore. After a few seconds of that, you feel solid ground under your feet and realize you've been standing still for almost five seconds now, and you've arrived.
Suffice it to say, Wade was not a particular fan of transmatting, but it was necessary to the job and after almost two years of being a Guardian, could at least keep his lunch after the fact. His Ghost floated silently beside him and he carried three guns with him; Hard Light, an auto rifle that fired (as the name implies) beams of light that reflected off of surfaces until it managed to sink into something, a sidearm he was given by his Awoken contact in the reef, and one heavy machine gun strapped on his back by the name of Ruin Wake. Taking note of the many hallways and cramped rooms, Wade thought it smart to switch to a more personal weapon and switched Hard Light for his sidearm, 'Queen's Choice'. He admired the way it glowed blue in the low-lit dusk, luminous like someone else he knew.
"Ghost, remind me to visit the Reef after we're done here." wade said, keeping his voice low and eyes on the motion tracker of his HUD.
"To see Petra again?" he could swear he heard the little voice poking fun at him.
"I know you can't see in my helmet but I'm rolling my eyes now, but I do know who I want on this assignment." with that, the conversation cut off, and he set out with his gun raised, creeping through the dark hallways.
The tower here was a stark contrast to the regal appearance of the Guardian's tower they currently inhabited. Where their buildings were constantly lit up, even in the dead of night, this tower was dark and the setting sun only did so much to illuminate the area, leaving most of the hallways and rooms in shadowed darkness. It was these shadowy corners that Wade tried to pay particular attention to; any Guardian could tell you that corners and rafters were the only places you needed to watch with the fallen, they hid so well in the darkness. For all his vigilance however, the first several minutes of his sweep went uneventfully as his Ghost called out a terminal they could get into.
"Wait, over there! I think there's enough power for me to take a look inside." the little voice chirped inside Wade's helmet and he lowered his gun to the side while letting the little one out to get to work. For the first time since they got here, he took a good look around the room he stood in.
"There's an awful lot of Faction sigils hanging around here, huh?" Wade hadn't noticed before, but he had passed probably hundreds of banners and flags regarding the Dead Orbit and Future War Cult out in the hallways. This room took it to a whole other level, though. Every spare inch of each wall was completely covered in New Monarchy propaganda posters. Wade stuck his head outside and sure enough, though he hadn't paid attention, ever banner that didn't belong to the New Monarchy was shredded on the walls or covered over with graffiti or another poster. Every one had the same message stamped across the paper in bold yellow print:
THE SPEAKER LIES!
RISE UP, AND THROW DOWN THE TRAVELLER.
A LONG REIGN FOR THE NEW MONARCHY!
"Well holy shit.." there wasn't really anything else he could say, did this actually happen? "Hey Ghost, do you know anything about this?" he pointed to the poster as the mechanical companion looked the sheet up and down.
"Oh my. I hadn't heard of this happening, I rarely went to the Tower while I searched for you, you understand. But this...this is awful." it immediately turned back to the computer, probing with its sparks and lasers. "There must be some mistake, why would anyone in the City want to destroy the Traveller?" Wade watched in silence; his question from the plaza had received an answer apparently, and the Ghost piped up again a nd drew his attention. "Wade...I think you should read this."
His stomach churned while he was reading the report pulled up on the monitor. Twenty-five years ago there was a revolt against the vanguard and the traveller by an insurrection force named the New Monarchy. He thought for a second about Executor Hideo at the Tower, and he continued. The faction was angry at the fall of the Bannerfall tower, and blamed the Vanguard, and the Traveller in particular. There were paragraphs that called the Traveller a false god, that claimed he brought the Darkness, and worse, that he was the Darkness. Just as Wade was thinking he couldn't read anymore they came to the end of the data stream, and the screen flashed with the Monarchy's emblem on the screen.
"Well what do you make of it?" the Ghost asked slowly.
"What do i make of it? Why the hell is Hideo even allowed in the Tower?" Wade sat down on the table, tall enough that his legs reached the floor. "Successful or not, if I were the Speaker and someone led a coup against me? Haha, no. I certainly wouldn't let them peddle merchandise in my own front yard!"
"Whatever the reason, if the Speaker trusts them enough to keep them so close, then maybe we should trust them too?" the tinny voice coming from Ghost seemed unsure at best. Wade sat in silence, fuming while he thought about how to proceed. There was an unmistakeable feeling in his gut that this was the right way to go. Why else would Cayde specifically point him to this tower?
"Trust or no, we have a clear suspect to start with our investigation." he pulled the mechanized companion back to him, transmatting inside his armor. "Now let's get out of here, pull the ship back around the entrance and we'll head back to the tower."
"I thought we were going to the reef?" the voice chimed over his comm even though Ghost was nowhere to be seen, which used to confuse Wade at first but you got used to it quickly. Honestly it was kinda like having a buddy follow you around everywhere.
"Originally, yes, but given recent events I say we take a little detour." he stepped out into the hall, sweeping the sights of his rifle down both ways of the corridor. Nothing, and he let out a small sigh of relief. No Fallen yet, and that was a good sign, but they had to leave fast before the creatures started to swarm the place, they were much more active in the night time.
He swiftly made his way through the hallways, checking rooms as he passed them and constantly re-checking his motion tracker. Strange how lucky he was being lately, uncharacteristically lucky to be honest. He started to recognize the feeling of dread settling in his chest as his mind turned over with suspicion. He had been here for almost an hour and a half and yet, they had met no resistance, almost like they were waiting for him to…
"Get out in the open...shit." he stopped dead in his tracks just one more corner away from the final staircase leading to the landing where his ship awaited.
"What was that?" his ghost asked. No sooner had he started backing up with Hard Light held firm against his shoulder than the every light in the building flashed on all at once. The effect was doubtlessly just as the pirates had planned, the sudden flood lights hitting his face blinded him for almost five seconds, which was long enough to trigger their ambush. Sightlessly, Wade kept backing up until he felt his back hit a corner wall. Good, he thought, and his vision started to clear.
Through bleary eyes he saw the hallway he had just vacated, full to bursting with Fallen. They must have sensed his arrival and waited for him to go deep enough inside to move into position. Surely it must have been too easy for them, with how distracted he had been, and he hadn't noticed them before because they never moved after falling in line, fooling his motion tracker. No matter now, the horde was sprinting at him, and he could guess there would be snipers waiting at the top of the stairs as well as a secondary force coming up the rear. All of this clicked into place in the space between seconds, and without another thought he pulled down the trigger without even bothering to aim.
He was still mostly incapacitated by the flash and firing blindly, but it was a damn good thing he was in such a tight corridor and he felt satisfaction at the sudden screams of the alien force. Even though most of his shots cleanly missed the chargers, the 'bullets' from Hard Light were special, in that they ricochet nearly endlessly. The few at the very front of the line dropped instantly and the gun soon recoiled above the rest of their heads, but that didn't matter. As soon as the light bullets hit the walls or ceiling above them, they rebounded constantly until they sunk into something soft, namely the Fallen. His vision had cleared and he was greeted the sight of a long hallway filled with more blue ricochet streaks than there were enemies, and he released the trigger.
Refocus, fire. It was instinctual, he still had half the rounds left inside the magazine and with his vision fully restored, he kept the gun centered on the bodies of his targets while he slowly pressed forward, stepping over the crumpled bodies of those who already fell. The few that remained by the time he had to reload turned tail and sprinted on all fours up the stairs around the corner. He chased them at a sprint, pulling out his sidearm as he ran. Turning on a dime, he saw the snipers just as he expected at the top of the stairs with their heads turned, no doubt towards their fleeing comrades; too bad for them. Before they could even turn back towards them, he raised the larger sidearm and squeezed four times. The first two were flawless headshots, dropping the larger enemies like rocks. The third and final one was smarter than his friends though, and tucked and rolled just in time to avoid both the third and fourth shot. He actually started rolling down the steps towards Wade, having dropped the gun and extending two arc blades.
Before Wade could fire any more at the oncoming enemy, he was on top of them, and it was a mad grapple between the two. Wade had one of its arms in each hand, but the fight could go either way, and the creature was strong. It jerked one of the arms back and stabbed down with much more renewed force, but Wade ducked his head to the side and the sparking blade sank inches deep into the concrete. While the creature struggled to free the knife, Wade seized the moment and struck its arm halfway along the forearm. From a normal human the punch probably would have had absolutely no effect, but Guardians were made of a much more powerful resolve. His fist connected and the bones inside the arm shattered with the energy the Light gave him. The Fallen sniper shrieked in pain and clutched its limp arm helplessly, instinctually, Wade shot another jab with equal force at the creature's head, snapping it back and breaking its neck so it slumped on top of him dead.
He thought that was the last of them and shoved the large corpse off, climbing back to his feet when Ghost spoke up again.
"Don't think we're out of the woods just yet, there's more coming back the way we came!" he checked the tracker in the corner of his display and sure enough the whole building seemed lit up with activity. "I guess the need for stealth went out the window."
"Yeah, I think you might be onto something there. The way to the ship should be clear though." He picked up the sidearm that got knocked out of his hand and sprinted up the stairs two at a time while the second force quickly gained on him. They already had eyes on him before he reached the top, and he was barely ahead of them as he caught sight of the ship floating fifty yards away. "Ghost I need you to start up transmat protocol and get us the hell out of here." he pulled the Ghost up in his palm and practically threw him at the ship, and the little robot easily corrected itself in mid air and disappeared into the ship. The gap between Wade and the Fallen was almost nonexistent, and he couldn't exactly turn around to open fire, which left him exactly one option.
He put on one last burst of speed to try and outdistance them until the ground ran out. Suddenly he was on the edge of the landing with about three thousand feet of open air beneath him, and he jumped clear into the air. Using the Light, he boosted his jump a little to give him some more distance from the platform, but it only lasted a second before he fell into freefall. It hadn't occurred to him that the ghost might not be able to trigger the system in time, he just assumed that there was enough time to do it and catch him. The funny thing about falling is he couldn't really tell how long it was, probably only a couple dozen seconds, but he did know how relieved he was when he felt that uncomfortable tug in his guts, then the spinning in his head. The next thing he felt was the hard floor of his ship's cargo bay coming up at him fast. He hit the floor and had the breath knocked out of him. Still gasping for air, he pulled off his helmet and threw it to the side as he rolled onto his back letting the oxygen rush into his lungs.
"Are you okay?" his Ghost came floating out of the cockpit and hovered over him, scanning and checking for injuries. "I know you warned me you were about to jump -sort of- but I don't think you realized how hard it is to do those calculations when the target is falling at a hundred and ninety-five kilometers per hour. Honestly, I've impressed myself." he finished his scan as Wade pushed himself off the ground. "You don't seem like you've sustained any major injuries anyway. I'd say you're good to fly." Wade picked his helmet off the floor and sat it on one of the shelves that lined the angular walls.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience little guy. I hope you didn't stress too much?" he flicked the small robot and smiled, heading into the cockpit while Ghost followed him. This room was much different than the only other room in the ship, the bay they had just left. Where the previous room, mostly for stowing loot and equipment, was lit with long bars of fluorescent illumination that ran along the walls between racks, this cockpit was small, with barely enough room for the Ghost to float over Wade's shoulder. There was one seat with a control column (joystick he called it, but Zavala insisted) raised from the console between where his legs would rest on either side of the seat. The space was completely illuminated by the dashboard display that should any incoming transmissions, transmat control, and a holo-map similar to Cayde-6's in the Hall of the Vanguard. There was no windshield or glass plane for his view, instead the exterior hull plating was completely wired with optic receivers that triggered a viewscreen whenever they detected proximity movement, essentially leaving him without a blindspot. The idea had been his own, affectionately naming the ship "The Argus Aeronaut". He played with the holo-map for a minute, selecting the usual post-mission course for the Tower. As the ship's engines kicked back into standard drive, he reclined the seat back and tried to grab a couple minutes of rest on his return trip to the tower.
Wade had changed one crucial part of the course he typically used, electing to come up around the south side and transmat into the hangar bay rather than into the main plaza along the standard flight docks. It would almost definitely save him a touch of trouble if less people were acutely aware of his arrival. His eyes shut as he planned the scene ahead of him, and eventually the hum and thrumming of the engine sent him to sleep. He didn't dream, but that was nothing new. Guardians never dreamed.