"Tower command this is Fireteam X-O, do you read us?" Static was the only reply that Gazea received. She groaned loudly and continued her trek down the mountain. A sudden gust of wind knocked her back into Lot, who helped steady her.
"Thanks." the only reply she recieved was a nod. "Where's Emi?" Lot pointed up to a peak to the right of them, where Emi was surveying the land before them.
"Y'know if Cayde locked us out just because I took his Sparrow for a joy ride….well i can't say I would be surprised because it's what I would do." Emi's voice came through their comm channel, barely audible over the amount of static.
"Thankfully I think this storm is to blame for our comm problems, now get over here before you get hit by lightning." Emi slid down to them and was about to fall off a cliff before Lot grabbed him by his cloak.
"Hey, watch the cloak! This thing was hard to make!" Emi protested as Lot casually threw him into the wall behind them.
"You know, The Tower should have equipment capable of withstanding this kind of thing." Violet chirped, appearing before the trio.
"Agreed. This whole situation makes my shell itch." Ladybug agreed. A clap of thunder sounded as lightning hit the peak above them, sending a massive rockslide on top of them.
"Well that's one way to get down a mountain." Emi said, looking back at the massive pile of rocks they had just been crushed under.
"Tower command this is Fireteam X-O do you hear us?" Gazea was beginning to get worried. They were well out of the storm now, only dark ominous clouds loomed above them, covering the top of the wall surrounding The Last City, and The Tower.
"Well now that we're off the mountain we can take a sp-" There was a resounding boom and a massive explosion sounded and was visible in the cloud layer. Without another word, the trio summoned their Sparrows and sped towards The Last City.
"This is Fireteam X-O! We have arrived at the Tower! Does anyone copy?" Gazea yelled as they blasted through another band of Cabal.
"Guardians! Find Amanda Holliday, we need you on their flagship!" Shelet out a sigh of relief at hearing Commander Zavala's voice. Even Emi was relieved to hear his dulcet tones, though he would never admit it. The three dashed across the ruined tower courtyard obliterating any Cabal that stood in their way.
"This is as close as I can get ya, Guardians, give 'em hell!"
"Thanks Amanda, I owe ya one!" Emi called back as Amanda Holliday pulled her ship away from The Cabal flagship.
"Right, we take out their engine room first, then take the command deck." Gazea said as the three headed into the ship.
They burst onto the top deck and looked around.
"The Traveler!" Ladybug called out as they looked. A massive machine was latching onto the giant white orb as they spoke.
"What the hell is it do-" There was a massive shockwave as the machine locked into place. All three guardians fell to their knees, their Light evaporating. The door opened up behind them revealing a towering Cabal in White Armor. Lot immediately stood up and weakly rushed him. The Cabal simply backhanded him off of the ship. Gazea stood, but quickly collapsed to her knees as the massive Cabal picked her up and casually threw her off the ship as well. Emi reached for his revolver, only for the cabal to step on his arm, crushing it.
"Who the hell are you?!" Emi yelled in anger.
"I am Dominus Ghaul, and your Light belongs to me now." He replied before kicking Emi off the ship as well.
Emi awoke slowly. He was in an old apartment building in The Last City. He looked up and saw a newly created hole in the ceiling, showing Cabal ships floating overhead. He rolled over and slowly stood up. His arm was nowhere to be found. He cursed and looked out a nearby window. The sounds of battle were gone, now he simply heard Cabal ships and loud footfalls patrolling the streets. He heard a noise behind him and spun, pulling nothing out of his holster and pointing his arm stump at a human woman who had opened a door on the other side of the room.
"You're alive?" She whispered in disbelief.
"I'm a guardian, ma'am, so not exactly." Emi joked. The woman didn't seem to calm down.
"How long had I been out?"
"Two days. I'd been hiding here since the Cabal attacked." Emi cursed again.
"Ladybug where are you?!" The woman rushed forward and put her hand over his mouth.
"SHH! They will hear us!" They stood there for a long while. When it became clear no Cabal were going to burst through the walls they both sat down.
"Emi!? Is that you? You're awake?" Emi heard Ladybug as he flew in through one of the windows, immediately circling around Emi.
"Thank The Traveler. I only performed minimum repairs to stabilize you before leaving. I have barely any Light left, but…" The small sphere concentrated as Emi's arm slowly materialized back. Ladybug fell to the ground, exhausted. Emi tenderly picked the small Ghost up.
"You okay?" He asked as Ladybug's singular eye flickered.
"Yeah just gimme a minute. Can't let you go out there on your own can I?" He replied weakly before transmatting back to Emi. He felt the familiar presence inside him, but substantially fainterer than he had ever felt it before.
"If you die….I won't be able to revive you." Ladybug said weakly. Emi swallowed hard.
"Then we better not let that happen…"
"The coast is clear." Lou whispered after poking her shell out a window. Lot and Gazea hurriedly escorted a family of three across a dangerously wide and open road into a ruined apartment building. Moments after they had disappeared inside, a Cabal ship flew overhead, a searchlight scanning the ground.
"The Cabal are nothing if not punctual." Gazea mused as Lou hurriedly zipped back to her side. Lot led the family upstairs, staying silent even as they thanked him profusely.
"We'll move you out of the city around midnight. This apartment building will keep us safe until then." Violet reassured them as she showed them to one of the rooms. Lot walked back down, leaving his Ghost to comfort the terrified family. He stood beside Gazea as she and Lou scanned the surrounding area.
"Any word on Emi? Has Xander heard anything about him from the search and rescue teams?" Gazea asked, resting against a wall with a weary sigh. Lot shook his head.
"He probably survived, right?" Lot nodded.
"But we have a network to coordinate between Lightless guardians to escort survivors so why haven't we heard from him?" Despair seeped into her voice. As much as she hated to admit it, she missed their Hunter companion.
As much as he hated to admit it, Emi missed having a Titan around who could punch holes through walls. After waking, he had quickly discovered he had landed close to the remains of the Tower, and thus was in the most heavily patrolled area of The Last City. He had barely been moving a mile a day with Renna, the girl he had encountered upon waking up. Yet every mile they went, they seemed to pick up more and more survivors, which only slowed them down further. He was currently managing ten Lightless humans on his own. The Cabal had this half of the city locked down, and food was getting harder and harder to scavenge, especially since he insisted on going alone. He thought about all this as he returned with a sack of mostly edible apples. Unfortunately the faces he returned to were wracked with panic, not relief. He realized why after he did a headcount.
"Where are Ed and Jacob?" He demanded as loudly as he dared.
"They went towards the market south of here, thought they could help you if they found more food. I'm sorry I tried to take care of them like you said but when I wasn't looking..." Ladybug answered as he flew up to Emi. Emi let loose nearly every swear word he knew before running back out the door. Ladybug was about to follow him when he poked his head back in.
"You stay here and try and make the kids forget all the words I just said." Ladybug bobbed in agreement as he ran off.
"I swear kids these days think they're invincible." Emi muttered to himself as he ducked and weaved around the ruined city.
"Though how in the world would I know what kids were like these days, they are definitely adults, possibly older than what I was when I-" He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw them. The two brothers were hiding helplessly under a ruined car as Cabal soldiers searched the area. Emi made eye contact with both of them and put a finger to his mouth. They both nodded fearfully. Emi drew his Hand Cannon and crept into a nearby building, ascending to a second floor window overlooking the scene. He wondered if he should've had Ladybug come with him. Any wounds he took here wouldn't be able to be healed until he got back, but he couldn't risk any of the other survivors getting any heroic ideas. He was beginning to hope the patrol might just give up and move on when he saw one of the Psions start bending down to look under the car. He jumped into action, popping up from the window and shooting the Psion in the head. It hit the ground and Emi heard the start of a scream before it was immediately drowned out by a barrage of gunfire on the building he was in. He dove to another window and popped up, taking two more Cabal out before they adjusted their attacks to his new location. He dashed downstairs as he heard the building he was in begin to shake from the punishment it was taking, and had barely made it outside when the entire thing fell on top of the entire Cabal patrol, and the car. Emi fell to his knees, letting out a cry in defeat. He pounded the ground with his fist in frustration before slowly picking himself up and going trudging back to the rest of the survivors, cursing his own helplessness under his breath.
"They found him" Violet's words made Gazea jump up to her feet instantly despite her immense fatigue.
"Emi? Where is he?" Lou asked.
"A Ghost scouting near the tower says they found him with nearly a dozen Lightless humans" Violet explained. Gazea put a hand to her face.
"We haven't even reunited and he's already giving us a headache." Lot grabbed his rifle and nodded to her.
"Right, I suppose, as usual, it falls to us to clean up his messes." She grabbed her shotgun and the two burst out of the house they were stationed in with their Ghosts in pursuit.
"Move, now!" Emi called out as he rose over the cement barrier he was behind and let loose as much covering fire as he could, several of his wards dashing across the highway at the same time. A psion popped up from cover and shot Emi square in the shoulder. He knelt back down and Ladybug quickly repaired the wound.
"I've got maybe three good heals left in me before I need a break." Emi nodded and peeked back over his cover, only to see a cabal patrol ship turn the corner at the end of the highway. He quickly sprinted after his wards. They were so close to the wall, not even a mile away. Emi had found a sizable hole in the wall to escape from. Of course no sooner had he returned than a Cabal squad found him. Now he sprinted through alleys, praying to the Traveller that the people he rescued could find the way out. He certainly was drawing the Cabals attention away from where they needed to get to. Unfortunately as he rounded another corner he spotted one of the children fallen over, clutching his leg and crying. Emi didn't bother stopping to ask what happened. He scooped him off the ground under one arm and kept running. As he dashed back out into an open street, he saw the patrol ship crash through a building ahead of him. Its cannon began charging, but before it could fire, a rocket blasted into one of it's engines, causing it to crash in a massive explosion. Emi spun to the source of the rocket.
"That was our last rocket, and now the Cabal are probably acutely aware of where we are." Gazea mused, letting the rocket launcher drop off her shoulder. Emi grinned widely.
"Take this kid, I'll lead the way." Emi said, hurriedly handing the crying child to Gazea. He ran in the direction of the escape route, Cabal sirens blaring not far in the distance.
The trio wove through the streets and alleys, quickly killing any Cabal they came across, but their numbers were only increasing.
"So did you know where you were going to take them if they got out?" Gazea asked.
"Well considering we are probably getting the attention of most of the Cabal in this entire part of the city it's not an 'if' they get out but when." Emi replied. They turned a corner and tried to catch their breath.
"I notice you didn't answer the question." Gazea gasped between breaths.
"I think we lost them for now." Ladybug said as he inspected their current condition.
"We gotta keep moving, the Cabal are probably already setting up a perimeter and if they complete it there's no way we are getting out, and then it's over for us." Ladybug pointed out, looking to Gazea, who had been so caught up in their escape she just now remembered the child desperately clinging to her.
"And we've also got this one to worry about." She said, gesturing to the child, who was too scared to even cry at this point.
"You need to get him out of here ASAP, his parents might try to come back for him." Emi explained, knowing they could very well be doing that now.
"We'll take him out and meet up with Hawethorne once we get out of the city, you two try to keep most of the cabal busy. Which way to your exit?" Gazea asked. Emi focused, trying to figure out which ways they had gone from there.
"Should be…..that way!" He said, pointing directly at one of the alley walls. Gazea rolled her eyes but began running towards one of the turns in the alleway, Lou right behind her.
"We gotta go too." Violet said as cabal dropships could be heard nearing them.
Emi was once again flying through all the curses he knew as he and Lot raced through the alleys. They had definitely gained the majority of the cabals attention, but that was cold comfort considering they couldn't seem to lose them no matter what they tried. They had probably gained a fair bit of distance when Lot stopped dead in his tracks. Emi stopped and turned back, wondering what had happened. Lot just stood there silently watching the direction the Cabal were coming after them from.
"Lot what's the m-" Violet began to ask before Lot grabbed her out of the air and threw her to Emi. She was too weak to try and right herself. Emi stared at her, then looked back to Lot. It took him a second to understand. His jaw tightened, already knowing it was pointless to try and argue at this point, and they didn't have the time regardless.
"Please... don't...let me stay with you!" Violet wailed as she too understood what he was doing. He turned slightly and shook his head.
"I'll bring her back once this is over, I promise." Emi said, and Lot gave a solemn nod in response. Emi took off running in the other direction and despite Violet's continued protests, she was still too weak to try and escape from his grip. Emi was very glad he was an Exo, as he couldn't stand the idea of either Violet or Ladybug seeing him shed any tears.
"Alright, now go get to the traveler and finish this thing!" Was the last thing Gazea heard before entering the Vex teleporter and ending up on the top deck of Ghaul's command ship.
"This is our last shot." Ladybug muttered somberly as he, Violet, and Lou floated behind Gazea.
"To be honest I'm surprised Emi offered to stay at The Farm. A Hunter staying behind while there's a fight to be had is unheard of." Lou mused. Violet stayed silent, shell drooping.
"Once this is over we'll see them again. Both of them." Gazea said as she finally took in the sight in front of her. They were as close to the traveler as they could get, and the massive cage was siphoning...Light? Gazea swallowed hard as she could barely make out the figure in the middle of the torrent of Light.
"When I say the word, I want you three to pour whatever Light you have left into me. This is our only shot at this." Gazea said, realizing normal firearms weren't going to cut it in this fight. It was all or nothing.
"So if this fails…" Violet began.
"It won't. We're going back to everyone with our heads held high." Ladybug said with all the confidence he could muster. Ghaul stepped out from the stream of Light, and not even bothering to speak, charged forward through the air, charged with Solar energy.
"NOW!" Gazea yelled. All three Ghosts focused as hard as they could, and poured every little ounce of Light into Gazea. It felt slightly odd, as receiving Light from another guardian's Ghost was generally frowned upon, but the warmth she felt was unmistakably just like it was when she had first let loose her power. Leaping upward, she reached deep inside herself, down to the very core of her being, and felt the spark of electricity go off once more. With a desperate cry, she let loose all of the power she had. A massive beam of arc energy collided with the still approaching Ghaul. He continued his unrelenting barrel forward, but as Gazea's attack continued, his approach began to slow. Then, in a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Emi's Light won out. The Arc beam vaporized Ghaul as he screamed in agony. As soon as he was gone, the energy within Gazea vanished, and along with the three Ghosts, she fell to the ground, losing consciousness instantly.
Despite resolving to stay at the Farm, Emi nonetheless decided that he would watch what was potentially the last stand of the Guardians, and also humanity itself. From a high mountaintop he saw the attack commence, small lights flaring up all across the city. He had never felt so helpless in his entire time as a Guardian. How much time had passed Emi couldn't tell, but he was watching Ghaul's command ship when he saw it. The sound that rang out across the entire city was unmistakable. Emi knew Gazea had made her last stand. When the sound ended, there was silence. Even the battle below seemed to stop in wonder. The silence continued for what felt like ages before he saw it. A crack in the cage around The Traveler. Then another formed, then another. Light was visible bursting from the cracks in the cage, growing brighter, and brighter, and brighter! Then, just as it reached its peak, it exploded. A massive burst of energy unlike anything Emi had ever seen before blasted forth from The Traveler. It washed over him and he felt it. His Light had returned! He smiled as there was a rallying cry across the entire city, and Cabal ships were seen already starting to peel away from their places around the city. Emi began his trek down the mountain, then he stopped and hesitated. Would it really be worth showing up right away if he was going to be tasked with clearing out debris to search for Gazea and Lot? After a moment of pondering he decided that it would definitely be a totally reasonable idea to go and check up on The Farm to see how everyone was doing there and maybe come back to The City a bit later.