He was approaching the farm. He knew that they were expecting him from the way the falcon flew in the. Circling as if guiding him. He opened the old gate by the soccer field of the most recent project of Hawthorne's. She wanted to call it The Farm. A place of center for all the groups outside of the City.

He came across their barn where they serviced the ship. It was rare that he made as he only stayed by his tree a few kilometers east and near the permanent camp of the villagers.

"GG." One old mechanic of ancient Asian decent nodded with a slight bow before returning to the innards of an engine of sorts. They knew better to expect an answer from them when Hawthorne was not around, the stoic guardian and selectively mute ghost.

He knew that most of the people here were prideful of their origins and were a mix of ancient traditions. In fact many left the City because the Factions forced them out or certain sectors of the City Consensus could not support their views. They noted that there was a divide between Humanity and its Guardians.

"Guardian." Hawthorne's voice echoed in the barn. She carried a rather large bag of familiar fruit. She was sweetening him.

He hummed slowly at her and she smiled gleefully at his response. It was harvest time and he had a love of persimmons. He could only get them here. Not that he needed an excuse to visit. The people welcomed him here despite his antisocial behavior and children were the first to touch him.

He made a serious effort to change after he flinched his hand away harshly when one small child had grabbed his hand. He had scared the little boy badly enough to make him run away. Things were smooth over now, but that fear of causing fear made him come out a bit more. He always wore his helmet for one, except with Hawthorne, who knew his face from his snow accident. He feared that being non-human would scare them, humans. Both Hawthorne and Ghost laughed at him. He grumbled when even the falcon Louis even barked its croak at him. He too was allowed to be insecure.

Hawthorne had mocked him constantly. Especially after the time he was so scared to hurt the little bodies that he allowed them to pull him to the floor and climb all over him. Even more so as his armor had enough places for hands and feet to climb. They were the only ones to do so. One child, to this day, boast to have been victorious in scaling him.

As for anyone else outside the farm, he shied away. His heart didn't beat faster and blood did not pump. Being so close made him aware of weak spots and he found himself even developing unconscious plans on how to take them down swiftly. He was doubting himself more and more as he recognized signs of his paranoia. His Ghost always was there to bring him back.

"Hawthorne. Nice to see you" His little light chirped as it went around her in its black shell. She chuckled lowly and bobbed its top panel with her finger. It whirred in its form of giggles before coming back to his side.

"Little menace." She greeted back and his little guy seemed to preen at the name.

They stood silent in each other's presence briefly before walking to stand before the front of the serviced ship.

"The Vanguard, they want to meet, Guardian." She stated as she pets her Falcon, Louis, who turned his head to gaze out at them when he landed on his perch on her arm. "Something is going down."

"Glad they learned to not send that Hunter." The electronic voiced of his companion huffed. Twirling itself in agitation, the little bot scanned and highlighted areas to be fixed for the poor elder mechanic who bowed at it in thanks.

"Still slightly bitter about that, Guardian and Ghost." She informed them. She had been followed and did not appreciate it one bit. She had cut communication with the Tower for a solid week and did not send in her usual supplies of trade. They sent her a shiny rifle to apologize, personally from the Vanguard Hunter, which she took a shining to.

He turned his head to side in question and Ghost asked.

"So, what are they wanting from us, oh grand messenger."

"I missed times when you weren't so cheeky." She grumbled with an exaggerated sigh before her eyes sharpened. "They have a 'hive' situation on the Moon, or whatever they mean by that, and they trust no one else after some issues. From what my informants tell me the spying situation has grown severe apparently and there has been some connection to some Thorn or something. You are the only one powerful enough to combat this that they can spare and trust." She patted the belly of Louis.

So, we are being summoned of sorts? He asked and Ghost repeated.

"I don't know why you guardians are so fool hearted. Anyone else I would tell them to run, but I know you won't." She sighed as she watched him crack his shoulders and neck.

"No. As Guardian and Ghost, we have a responsibility," his little one replied. "We knew it would come to this. We cannot run around the Traveler for the rest of our lives. Many can, but we can't."

She nodded.

"As I stated, fools." She pushed her arm up and her falcon cried out its song as it left itself up. She then crossed her arms.

"We will leave. We are as ready as we ever will be. I sent you a message with coordinates. That is where you will find our supplies in case we don't return. Open it when confirmed or if it has been four months with no communication. Otherwise delete." The ghost by his side informed her as they gazed at her softly.

"Fools", she chuckled before rubbing her eyes. They were wet when she looked up and he held out his arm. He understood. They had been friends for over a year now. She quickly grasped it and shook hard once. "Please return safely. Devrim and Marc still want to meet you." She seemed to hesitate before stating softly words that he knew would stick with him. "Be Brave. May the Traveler be with you."

"And also, with you, Hawthorne." Ghost said as he nodded at her.

They disappeared out of the air. It was emergency enough to warrant avoiding the 30-minute walk to summon their sparrow or be beamed up. War of another kind was here. He just feared it would be another front in a war where their weren't as many guardians anymore.