Chapter 2: A Guardian's Work...

The Last City, Earth

The return trip barely took them five minutes, and soon enough three tiny ships were swooping low, in formation, over a rocky mountain range, passing them by quickly enough and then coming down across vast plains towards the twinkling lights of an immense city that waited in the distance, surrounded by massive walls. And hanging above all of it was a white sphere, almost as large as the city itself. Though imposing, its surface was marked with considerable damage, from where its shell had been broken open once, and then scoured by flames and smoke. Scars of an ancient battle.

The Traveller. Even today the City's finest scholars had no answer as to what the Traveller was meant to be. All that people knew was that the Traveller was discovered on Mars centuries past, and it shared its secrets with us. Humanity ushered in a Golden Age and pushed out across the stars, terraformed planets, founded new civilisations. But then the Darkness came and the Traveller sacrificed itself to save what remained of our once proud race. It had hung over the City ever since, protecting us. Or perhaps it was waiting for some grand event, and then everything would change once more.

Only the Speaker knew for sure.

After the three ships were docked, Logan lead Griff and Elena out of the docks, back towards the main foyer of the Tower. They passed by shipwright Amanda Holliday who was looking over the latest incoming shipments of foodstuffs and other essentials for the Guardians, and she glanced up briefly as Logan passed, trailed by the others. She gave him a smile and he flashed a quick wink back in reply. She just shook her head slowly and went back to her work as the fireteam went up the stairs leading out of the hangar. All around them, service Frames and other Guardians moved to and fro. Some of the latter greeted the fireteam as they passed.

All of them had removed their helmets, and one could see that of the three, only Logan was human.

To his left was Griffin, more commonly known as Griff to his friends. Griff was an Awoken, one of those born at the edge of where Light and Darkness meet, in the distant Reef. He had the same ash-coloured skin that many Awoken shared, his hair black as night and his eyes a fierce yellow. He stood just over six feet five inches, towering over his companions and most other Guardians they knew, so he was well-suited to his role as a Titan. His armour was gleaming plasteel, shaded to that of the Old Guard in black and grey.

Elena, meanwhile, wasn't even organic to begin with. She was an Exo, one of those highly-advanced self-aware machines built long ago to fight some ancient war that none alive could recall. Her full name was Elena-4, a sign of her relative youth among her kind: the higher numbers indicated older Exos. Her body plating was dark blue, her eyes and mouth a contrasted red, the curve of her 'skull' dotted with dozens of neural studs. Like any good Warlock, she prided the search and acquisition of new knowledge above most other things, and she spent a considerable portion of her time in the old archives of Old Acre, or assiting the Cryptarchs of the Tower in unravelling the secrets of lost civilisations. Yet anytime Fireteam Onyx went to war, she answered.

Fireteam Onyx. Of the countless fireteams of Guardians that had fought across the galaxy, that one name inspired a considerable amount of praise and awe from the others, especially the new recruits.

They stepped out onto the grand plaza of the Tower, which looked out over the City itself. Once upon a time, mankind stretched out across the stars themselves, to Mars and beyond. But now that was all gone, distilled into this one sprawling metropolis, inside of the hundred-foot walls which hadn't been breached once in their history. In the shadow of the Traveller – or in the occasional isolated settlement out in the wastes – mankind endured. The plaza was busy as ever, with groups of Guardians rushing to and fro, conversing in groups, gathering at the Cryptarch's stall, the bounty board or the Gunsmith's place. A few others were just standing and looking around in wonder, or staring out over the City and the Traveller which hovered above it all.

"They're still finding new blood," Griff observed, watching the nearest Guardian who was looking about in awe. "You'd think that there would be no more to find."

"There's always more to be found," Elena replied, looking up at the imposing shape of the Traveller. "Just because Oryx and the others are gone doesn't mean that we're any safer."

Logan just nodded to himself in response. She was right in that regard. The Guardians of the Tower had achieved much over the last two years, from dispelling the Heart of Darkness which resided at the centre of the Black Garden on Mars, through to preventing the uprising of the renegade Fallen House of Wolves, and most recently, they had driven back the vile Taken and their king, Oryx, father of Crota and one of the Hive pantheon's Gods.

Fireteam Onyx had been at the heart of several of these victories. They had penetrated the Garden, they had felled Crota and then Oryx himself, even though it had cost them dearly-

"You okay Logan?"

"What?" he said, looking down at Elena as she watched him with those red eyes.

"You zoned out there for a bit."

"Sorry. Just thinking about what we've gained. What we've lost."

Elena looked away and Griff just sighed quietly. They both knew what he meant exactly.

"Anyways," Logan announced stretching his arms high above his head. "I'll go and settle things with the Vanguard. Maybe they'll have another mission for us into the bargain."

"A Guardian's work," said Elena.

"…is never done," finished Griff, giving a wry smile. "Okay then, we'll just meet you back in the usual spot?"

"Sure," nodded Logan, then turned and strode away, towards the back of the plaza, past the crowds of gathered Guardians, down towards the Vanguard hall. He passed through the office which served as the centre of operations for the Crucible where Guardians sparred with one another, and through to the large hall that served as the centre of the Vanguard's operation, from where they gathered their intelligence and then sent out Guardians into the wild, and where the new blood was accepted and trained.

There were there Vanguard mentors in total, one each for Hunters, Titans, and Warlocks. Each was meant to represent the absolute best of their chosen discipline, an absolute paragon to inspire those that served beneath them. They clustered around a huge table, piled high with data slates and piles of written reports from countless Guardians in the field, and old faded maps of various regions on Earth and beyond. There was always so much to do.

One of them – a hooded Exo with blue face-plating poring over a large, tattered map – suddenly glanced up at his approach. "Oh hey, look – the wunderkid's here."

Cayde-6, the Hunter Vanguard. Perhaps the most unconventional of all the mentors, but then again the Hunters weren't exactly conventional Guardians in how they went about their business. Suffice to say, Cayde had been a superb mentor to Logan and countless others who had come through before and after. He was only in the role on account of the fabled 'Vanguard Dare' that he had lost, but he served faithfully all the same (even though he was eager to go out into the wild and back into the fight, a fact he imparted to nearly every Guardian he spoke with).

"Ah yes," smiled the dark-skinned woman in purple opposite Cayde. "And still in one piece too, Logan. I'm glad that the Fallen and the Hive still don't offer you and your team too much difficulty."

Ikora Ray, the Warlock Vanguard. As obsessed with the acquirement of knowledge as those that served beneath her, but in her youth she was supposedly a fearless and aggressive warrior who forged her own path across the stars, preferring her own company to that of others. Logan couldn't imagine that though – the whole time he had known Ikora he'd always seen her as perpetually calm and level-headed, even compared with her Titan counterpart.

"Thank you Ikora," Logan nodded and smiled. "But no, they weren't a threat to us. There isn't that much left up there for the Fallen anyway, not after how much time has passed."

"Even so," said a calm voice form the head of the table, spoken by a blue-skinned, hairless Awoken in the segmented armour of a Titan, "we've seen that the Fallen can survive all manner of tragedies. The House of Devils still harry us, for instance."

Zavala was the Titan Vanguard, and overall commander of the Vanguard itself. A great hero from the Battle of Twilight Gap long ago, Zavala now lead the City's Guardian forces in their fight back against the Darkness, and also acting as mentor to the Titans. He fulfilled both roles by wielding the dual notions of honour and duty as he went. Softly-spoken as all other Awoken were, Zavala was nevertheless a great warrior…or rather he had been. Logan and most other Guardians had never seen him a fight to confirm or deny that.

"Don't remind me, Commander," Logan sighed. "But on topic, did you look over the data that Kal sent onto you on that Hive tomb we disturbed?" At the mention of his name, Logan's Ghost materialised into being, fluttering around the Hunter's shoulders, his eye plates forming into what amounted to a pleased expression.

"We sure did," Cayde replied, tapping a pile of data slates beside him, "along with a dozen others. Today. Being Vanguard mentor isn't a walk in the park when it comes to the paperwork. Oh, the paperwork…"

"They're spreading that fast?" inquired Kal, sounding deflated.

"Even with two of their Gods dead?" Logan added for good measure, echoing his team's sentiments back on the moon.

"The Hive have an entire pantheon of Gods," Ikora stated, calm and level as always. "The Hive's faith is one of their strongest weapons. As long as it is maintained, they will always be a threat to us."

"…well as long as the next God to come along doesn't bring a Dreadnought and an army of brainwashed slaves with them," Cayde mumbled. Logan sniggered while Zavala just gave him a sharp look.

"…but we still thank you for your team's efforts, Logan," Ikora said quickly, salvaging the awkward situation, "and we'll be putting up new bounties in due course. There's still plenty of work for our Guardians to undertake."

"Glad to hear it," nodded Logan, and then he noticed how Cayde was glancing back and forth between Zavala and Ikora as though expecting them to say something. Logan was quiet for a few more seconds, and then he decided to take the bait.

"Okay, is there anything else?" he asked.

"Well, funny you should mention that," Cayde mumbled, leaning heavily on the table, propped up on his right elbow and looking directly at Zavala. "Are you going to tell him, Zavala, or will I?" The Titan Vanguard let out a sigh.

"As you wish, Cayde. Logan, there's another opportunity for Fireteam Onyx to serve the City," he explained vaguely. "Will they be up to the challenge?"

"Always, Commander," Logan announced.

Zavala nodded, and then indicated over towards the far window where a rotating holographic display of Earth was being attended to by a pair of Frames. "Come. We can discuss the matter there." He turned and made his way over, and Logan followed, with Kal fluttering along behind him. Behind them, Cayde watched them go, craning his neck to follow them.

"Okay then," he called out, "me and Ikora will just be over here then. You know…doing Vanguard stuff. Waiting for someone to need us again." Zavala just ignored him completely as he and Logan took up a position at the far window.

"Some days, I am tempted to throw Cayde out of this window," Zavala sighed, indicating the huge glass window which looked out across the wilderness that surrounded the City. "Without opening it beforehand."

"I don't know," Logan shrugged, "I mean, it's not as though you're drowning in applications for his position, and he has served faithfully for years. In his own unique manner, of course, but still…"

"Yes," Zavala dedpanned, "and don't think that we have forgotten that time he had you land on Oryx's dreadnought, without authorisation, and without telling anybody else about it to begin with. Eris Morn still hasn't forgiven either of you for destroying her ship."

"Yes, but you do agree that we had to open up a beachhead on that ship sooner or later, right?" Logan countered and though Zavala's expression didn't change, he looked as though he was agreeing to Logan's view. "Besides," added the Hunter, "I told her I'd buy her a new one."

"Either way, we are not here to speak of your past choices," the Commander said, and then turned to the holographic display, pulling up the continent of what used to be called 'Europe' onto the display. "We're here to discuss something which…to be fair, has us all baffled."

"In what way?" asked Logan. The Commander tapped a few keys on the display's keypad and the view zoomed in onto a large island off of the North West corner of this 'Europe', where a flashing red spot illuminated one particular city. Or the remains of one at least. There were only remains left now.

"Over the last two weeks we've been intercepting a large number of transmission bursts from Old London," Zavala explained, pointing at the blinking dot.

"Old London?" asked Logan. "I've heard of it plenty, but Guardians have been prohibited from going there for decades, right?"

"That is correct," interjected Kal, buzzing around Logan's shoulders. "When the Fallen first came to Earth, the House of Falcons laid claim to the city. They were so thick there that any kind of Guardian intervention would have been blunted in an instant."

"We couldn't risk that kind of loss at the time," Zavala concurred. "At the time it was felt it was more important to concentrate on consolidating our defences in the City. Which mattered little, by the time the Fallen came to Twilight Gap." There seemed to be a note of regret in the Commander's voice, but he didn't dwell on it.

"But back to those transmissions. They were heavily encrypted and it took the Cryptarchs a long time to make any sense of it, but they eventually deduced they were Cabal in origin."

That statement made Logan sit up and pay closer attention. "The Cabal? On Earth? I'm sorry Commander, but I seriously doubt that. We've only ever seen the Cabal on Mars as long as I've been a Guardian. And how could they be on Earth anyway without us picking it up? After what happened with Oryx, they didn't exactly have the numbers."

That last part was practically common knowledge now, six months after Oryx had been slain. When the Taken King first came to the galaxy, his Taken army devasted the Cabal Skyburners base on Phobos, along with the other Cabal legions operating on Mars: the Sand Eaters, Dust Giants, even the Blind Legion. At the end of it all, all of them were under fifty percent fighting strength. And after the remaining Skyburners had crashed a ship onto the dreadnought to seek vengeance on Oryx, the rest of them were deprived of their leadership and then eventually wiped out in the space of two months.

"That may be so, but we all know just how destructive the Cabal can be, even when faced with overwhelming odds," Zavala countered. "And the remaining numbers on Mars are still holding out. They've been there for decades and they'll likely stay there for decades more unless some small miracle happens."

"Well Onyx are all about small miracles, aren't we?" suggested Logan with a smile.

"That is true to some extent," Zavala said lightly, though he didn't smile. The Titan Vanguard never did. "The Black Garden, Crota…and Oryx himself. Impressive, for Guardians with such short careers. Which is why we wish to entrust this mission to you."

"And if I said no, who would you have asked next?" Logan asked curiously.

"Elijah."

Logan was quiet for a spell. "I see."

"Eli is as good as you are, Logan," Zavala reasoned. "You know Fireteam Opal has earned as much reputation as Onyx has done. And before…before what happened, both of you were working together were practically unstoppable. Even more so with Onyx and Opal combining their experience."

"Yes, we were," Logan sighed, "but too much has changed. It isn't happening, much as you all want it to." He glanced sideways at the others, saw them looking away. "I'm sorry."

"We're all sorry to hear that," Zavala said, and then immediately changed tack as though nothing had been mentioned. "So will Fireteam Onyx accept this mission?"

"We shall," Logan replied.

"I'm happy to hear that," nodded Zavala. "We all are, in fact," he added, indicating Ikora and Cayde with a sweep of his hand. The Hunter Vanguard raised his arm and gave a little wave. "I'm sure that Kal will be receiving the relevant data any moment now. Your main objective is to locate the source of these transmissions and ascertain their origin and exact nature, and then to take relevant action to cease them."

"Received," Kal chimed. "Relevant Cabal signals seem to be emanating from an area within the city commonly known as 'Hyde Park' in pre-Collapse times"-

"Thank you Kal, but we can worry about the particulars when we get there," Logan said, holding up a hand. "We can be setting off shortly, Commander."

"I'm glad to hear that, Logan," Zavala nodded. "We'll be in touch over the comms should you need us."

"I appreciate that, Commander," Logan nodded, "now if you will excuse me, I need to meet up with the others."

Ikora Ray just nodded and gave a slight smile. "May the Traveller watch over you, as always." Logan nodded in response.

"As always," he intoned.

"Uh, could I add something if no one minds?" Cayde spoke up, raising his hand like a child at school. Logan slowed down and came to a halt beside his mentor.

"So uh…I'm not all for these inspirational speeches like Zavala is, but I just wanted to tell you Logan that you're one of the best Hunters I've ever mentored, and how far it would set the Tower back if you got killed out there…so uh, try not to get yourself killed. Oh, and the same goes to Griff and Elena too, when you see them."

"Thanks…I guess," Logan answered with a smile, and turned away to leave.

"Oh, and my offer still stands," Cayde called out, which made Logan pause briefly. He took in a quick breath, and then walked out of the hall without stopping, trying not to think about that offer. He made it most of the way through the Crucible Hall before he nearly walked head first into a trio of Guardians coming his way.

The one leading them was an Awoken a couple of inches taller than Logan, his skin ash grey and his hair black as night, with glittering blue eyes that regarded the Hunter with the look of someone considering a pile of dirt they had just stepped in. He was flanked by a Titan and a Warlock. The former was a female human with blue eyes and a shock of vibrant red hair, and the latter was an Exo with gunmetal grey 'skin' and yellow eyes that bore through Logan with considerable intensity.

"Eli," said Logan levelly.

"Logan," the Awoken responded, just as levelly.

Ellijah – Eli to those who knew him – famed Hunter, Bane of the Vex, and leader of Fireteam Opal, one of the more in demand fireteams on the Tower, perhaps almost as popular as Logan's Fireteam Onyx was. Unlike Logan who preferred to fight at a distance, Eli was known for getting up close and personal with the enemy. His knife alone had slaughtered fifty Vex on Venus in the space of three hours. Most thought that was just a colourful story whipped up to inspire the new Guardian recruits, but Logan knew the truth. He had seen the aftermath, in that overgrown creek bed on the edge of Vex territory. White fluid spilled like water across the rocks and trees and the grass.

The three of them passed by Logan without another word, though the yellow-eyed Exo continued to glare at Logan for a couple seconds longer and then strode on. Logan watched them go briefly, and then he sighed and walked on, remembering to take Kal's advice and stop by the Gunsmith's stall to top up on his special ammo syntheses.


He found Griff and Elena in the 'usual spot', which to those not in the know, was within a closed-off section of the Tower, beyond the Speaker's study, overlooking the City far below. They had discovered it one day by chance, over a year ago, and now it served as their normal rendezvous and space where they could get away from the hustle and bustle of the plaza. It was a small plaza itself, roughly thirty feet square in size, littered with construction materials – apparently, this part of the Tower had suffered some damage during the Battle of Twilight Gap, and had never been repaired since as other more urgent projects and builds took precedence.

His two team mates were perched high up, on a steel beam that crossed a horizontal span between two support pillars. They were talking between one another as two dots buzzed around their head, except that they weren't dots, they were Ghosts. Griff's was painted turquoise and was known as Garl, while Elena's was painted bright red and responded to the name Scarlet, which seemed appropriate enough.

"Hey," Logan called out, and then promptly grabbed onto a nearby pole and shimmed up to their level, hopping over with the practiced ease of someone who spent most of their time moving swiftly over all kinds of terrain. He sat down beside Elena, and then dangled his legs freely as Kal emerged, flittering around with Garl and Scarlet. The three tiny machines communicated with bursts of binary code that was incomprehensible to the Guardians.

"So, what did the Vanguard offer us?" Elena asked.

"What makes you think they offered us anything?" Logan asked innocently.

"Because they always offer us things to do?" Griff suggested at the far end. "Because Onyx is always the first port of call for their critical missions? And it must be one of those owing to the look on your face."

"Yes," conceded Logan, staring out over the glittering lights below, and the Traveller above. "They want us to go to Old London, investigate some signals they've been intercepting there."

"Old London?" asked Elena. "I…I became a Guardian there."

"Really?" asked Logan. He'd never heard that from her before.

"Yes," added Scarlet, drifting close, the plates around its 'eye' clicking to form an eager expression. The Ghost's voice was more feminine than Kal and Garl's, more appropriate for its name. "I spent the best part of a decade searching for my Guardian, and then the Traveller showed me towards Elena, a destroyed Exo rotting in the back corner of some forgotten old warehouse."

"What it was like?" asked Griff.

"I don't remember much," Elena shrugged, "just a lot of ruins. And Fallen. A lot of Fallen. And me running like hell."

"Sounds like me and Kal at the old comosdrome in Old Russia... those Fallen were from the House of Falcons, right? Sounded dangerous, the way the Vanguard were going on about them."

"Yes," nodded Elena, fixing him with those red eyes. "They are. They have the numbers and the experience. Most of them were Vandals at least, and then above them a lot of Captains and Barons. And they were absolutely viscous too, even by the standards of their kind. No wonder the Vanguard made it a no-go zone."

"And yet they're sending us there anyway," Griff sighed.

"They've got good reason," Logan countered, "because those signals have the Cabal signature." They all sat in silence for a while, to let that information sink in.

"Cabal?" asked Elena. "On Earth?"

"But the Cabal have never been seen on Earth," interjected Garl as the Ghost flittered in, circling its master's head. "Since Oryx devastated their numbers, they've been trying to consolidate their positions on Mars."

"True," Griff nodded, "so they wouldn't have any chance to attempt a mission to Earth anyways. And if they did then we would have picked them up before they even broke through the atmosphere."

"Well maybe not but the Vanguard are concerned enough to have us take a look," Logan countered, "and besides – if I had said no they would have just given it to Eli and Fireteam Opal anyway."

There was a brief silence, and then Griff broke it. "Eli?"

"Yes," Logan said, tersely. "Zavala told me as much, and then on my way out I nearly walked right into them. All of them."

"Couldn't have been easy," Elena reasoned.

"No. Frosty doesn't begin to cover it."

"Guess he won't be any happier when he finds out we just swiped a lucrative contract out from under them," Griff said. "So let's go now before it gets awkward."

"You both set?" asked Logan.

"We already saw Rahool and the others, so we're set if you are," Griff shrugged, and looked past the Hunter at Elena, who nodded in turn.

"Alright, then let's go do some sightseeing," Logan said. "If this turns out to be a wild goose chase you can show me the sights El."

The Exo made a grating, choking noise that amounted to her kind's form of laughter. "Deal."

Minutes later, three ships left the Tower's hangar, in formation, striking out over the glittering lights of the City itself. After a few seconds, their main drives lit up, and then they were gone with a subsonic bang of massive pressure. At the edge of the main balcony, Eli and his companions watched the ships leave with hard glares.

A/N: As per before, R&R as normal please. I appreciate all feedback, constructive or otherwise. Till the next time...