City

My ship entered Earth's atmosphere, and I asked Ghost for diagnostics.

"You'll be at the Tower in forty-six seconds."

"Specific today, are we?" I asked.

"You asked." he retorted. I nodded, and grabbed the controls. My helmet rested at my side now in the empty passengers seat. My brown hair hung loosely over my eyes, and I brushed it away to get a better look at where we were going.

"Put me down Ghost." I said.

"Sure thing. I'll let Holiday know your ship is here." he said.

"Thank you."

I felt my weightless for a second while my vision blurred. When I opened my eyes, I was standing on the cobblestone floor of the Tower. I gazed out over the vaults, vendors, and other Guardians going about their business. A few looked at me. A few more whispered to each other. I was used to this. I turned around and looked over the City that I swore to protect.

I had died years and years ago, trying to flee the Russian Cosmodrome from those... Those things... I was in Russia to visit family. I still remember the things we had back then. TV, cellphones, movies, paper books and more. Now, those are kept behind lock and key. Only certain people had the authority to view "Old Earth" artifacts. When Ghost brought me back, it took me a few weeks to come to terms that it had been thousands of years since I had died. Everyone I knew was dead. All of my family, all of my friends. I made the best of it though.

I made a sharp left, and turned to go towards the Speaker's chambers. I arrived in Tower North, and took another left. The concrete walls turned red, and the smell of smoke filled the air.

"Sobek, you're back." someone said. Sobek. What a stupid name.

It wasn't my real name, but the ones the Warlocks had given to me upon my first arrival in the Tower.

"Hideo. What do you have for me?" I asked. The man who had spoken to me wore traditional New Monarchy robes, red and white. Hideo said something to his assistant next to him, handed her his tablet, and walked to me. He placed his hand on my shoulder.

"It should be I asking you that question. Your Ghost didn't send back much information." he said.

"Yeah... Sorry. Something happened."

"Visions?"

"Sort of." I said. Ghost materialized above my opposite shoulder.

"He reported sensing a presence." he remarked.

"Just like the fireteam before you." Hideo said, placing a hand on his chin.

"I'm sorry, Hideo. Something is happening there, something beyond the Vex that we are familiar with." I said.

"Maybe something along the lines of the Vault of Glass?" he asked. People around me stopped speaking, and perked up. I had been one of the six who had gone into the Vault of Glass after Kabr, a Titan. That was months ago. It was a grueling experience, and only four of us made it out. I'll get into that at a later date, when it's important.

"No, not like the Vault of Glass. The Vault, it disorients you. This place was different entirely." I siad.

"I'm sorry to hear that... We're going to be sending you back." Hideo said.

"What?" Ghost and I questioned at the same time.

"Not for some time, though! And when we do, we'll be sending you with another." he said. "Speaking of which, he'll be arriving from the Frontier tomorrow. We'll brief you both then." Hideo said.

"Who's this person I'm going with?" I asked.

"Exo. His name is Revenant-2."

"Revenant-2." I repeated.

"Until then, just relax. Go into the Crucible for a few rounds, go to your suite. Just take your mind off of things until tomorrow." Hideo said. He placed his hand back on my shoulder. "You'll be fine, Sobek."

"Thank you, Executor Hideo. Ghost?"

"On it."

My weight disappeared, and next thing I knew it, I was in my room.

It was simple. Perfectly square, with a red wooden floor. The New Monarchy seal was emblazoned on it. Across the room sat a large bed, a nightstand, a dresser, and a monitor. To my right, a door led to the bathroom and to my left, a window peered out over the City. I removed my gear, Voidfang Vestments and all, and collapsed onto my bed in my black undersuit. My eyes felt heavy. Some Guardians didn't need sleep, they were undead. But sometimes, if you happened to be human, you needed it often. About once every 14 hours.

I turned my head to look out at the Traveler. When I had first seen it, I thought it was some kind of moon. It turns out, it was the defender of Earth, and of humanity. When I had awoke, I saw robots walking around and interacting as if they were people. I soon learned that they were no different from people, they thought, laughed, cried and slept just like us. There were families of Exos down in the city below, living like anybody else. But the Exos were an easy enough concept to grasp. The angelic, elf-like Awoken were different, though.

Before I had been to the Reef, I had seen other Guardians that looked human enough, but with white or purple skin and glowing, striking eyes. These were the Awoken. When I had arrived in the Reef for the first time, though, I saw how they operated, how they lived. Their Queen, Mara Sov, had spoken with me. Her brother, Prince Uldren, had hated me. Probably still does. But they helped me find the Black Garden and single-handedly destroy the Heart of Darkness. But that's neither here nor there. What was important is that I would be seeing a lot more of the Awoken in the coming year. After destroying Crota and his Netherworld, the Queen sent a distress call to the City. We headed out, not caring what the Speaker of the Vanguard said, in order to help the Queen and her people. Long story short, we're allies now. I know the Queen almost personally, and she strikes me as the perfect Awoken. Strong, wise, sophisticated, beautiful and powerful. Did I mention beautiful?

Anyway, after capturing a Fallen named Skolas for the Queen, I had been sent on a mission by the New Monarchy to investigate the "Lighthouse." A worshiping place and research station for the Cult of Osiris. I had met Osiris himself, once.

Ah, what am I blabbering on about. I'll tell you all about my past one of these days. But for now, I have to focus on what's happening right now. Something is on Mercury, and I have to figure out what it is and put a stop to it.

I realized my eyes were closed, and I had begun snoring.

"I'll wake you when Hideo calls for you." Ghost said.

"Thank you." I yawned.