I don't own or Destiny 1 and 2 , and Tsutomu Nihei's works or characters except for my oc.
Note: While this fic says that this is a crossover of Tsutomu Nihei's masterwork Blame!, it is more of an AU of Destiny's original story with inspiration and elements of Nihei's other works, which will be revealed more as the story progresses and you can ask in my private messages.
Also, I am welcome to criticism as long as it is positive and helpful to the story.
With that out of the way, please support the official release.
Maybe on Earth. Maybe in the Future.
The wind flew up in huge dust clouds in the wastelands as it whipped through the carcasses of the hundreds of cars which saturated the old roads. It was in the vast wastes that a lone Ghost hummed tunelessly as it weaved in and out of the rusty shells stopping occasionally to scan the remains of the deceased that laid within.
"Ouch..." it said aloud to the emptiness as it scanned another skeleton, whoever it had been had not gone out in a pleasant way. The ragged bullet hole in the top skull told the Ghost that much but little else. It might be that a Fallen sniper from the collapse or, they lost hope and took the easy way out.
The Ghost couldn't help but wonder what their name had been or what their story had once been been but moved on quickly, having the strange feeling that it was being followed.
It's instincts proved to be correct; a Fallen patrol had spotted him a few minutes ago and has been in the cross hairs of a captains sniper rifle. The four-armed alien creature stretched it's arms out slightly as it stood from it's crouching firing stance. It gave a battle cry which sent his fellow Fallen to follow the Ghost.
The small robot flew through a small stream finding another skeleton buried in the dirt beneath an ancient and dead tree. As it scanned the old remains holding little hope that a positive reading would turn up. While its programming searched for the one thing that would make this certain corpse unique, the Ghost examined the skeleton visually through its Heads up Display as it became wreathed in blue light from the scanner.
It had clearly belonged to a humanoid due to its overall structure, which was always a good start; male and around the average size of a human, not that size mattered to the Ghost. But somehow, something was different with this one. For one, while the skeleton was somewhat human-like in some aspects, its overall structure was drastically different in many other ways from what one might expect from a human. Upon further scans, the Ghost also detected that the bones of the skeleton was reinforced by what appeared to be a complex matrix of artificial micro-cellular carbon fibers, which made them far more durable than the average humans to the point of being nearly unbreakable. But what caught the robots attention the most was the strange logo that was located at the right zygomatic bone of the skull, and the small letters that where written in an old language that was spoken by ancient humans before the Golden Age called 'Japanese'. And it read...
'Agent of Toa Heavy Industries: Synthetic Human KD6.3-7'
"A synthetic human?" The ghost muttered in surprise as it instantly recognized the name of such a company. From what the little Ghost could gather from the data banks of the old and ancient computers that where scattered in this ruined world, said company had been one of the major manufacturing and engineering corporations of the Golden age, rivaling the Clovis Bray Corporation in developing new technological achievements that benefited humanity.
But sadly, like all things that where effected by the Collapse, only remnants of old technologies and relics of a bygone Era where left behind to rot in the waste of Earth.
The Ghost was quickly brought back to its job at hand, an pinging sound had signaled a positive reading, "Is it possible?"
The eight triangular shaped segments that surrounded the Ghost central core spread out activating the most important sequence of programing the Ghost could run.
The resurrection of a Guardian.
"Okay... here goes nothing." The Ghost muttered to itself as a blinding light spread out from its core.
...Ugh...
(The savage multi-limbed beast rushed forward with its viscous horde.)
...what...
(Bullets flew throw the air, and it's roar seemed to pierce everything.)
...What is this...?
(The sound of terrified screams filled his ears, as they ran away from the multi-limbed beast continued to charge forward with no sign of stopping... and he was suddenly rocketing away to unbelievable speed, spinning uncontrollably.)
"Guardian?"
(After what seemed like forever, there was a sudden stop. And then there was nothing.)
"Wake up Guardian!"
...wait. Guardian?
Greyish-blue eyes snapped open as the one they belonged to gasped his first breath and sprung up from the dirt. His breath was heavy and his body was soaked in a cold sweat as his head swept around the wasteland from one place to the next, but nothing was there.
It took a full minute of searching before he finally started to calm himself, allowing himself to breath more easily. However, in doing so he began to feel his body ache all over, but he pushed through it and got up before stretching his muscles, getting a satisfying pop in response.
What was he doing here, he wondered. Did he fall asleep?
Suddenly, a robotic drone descended into his field of vision, comprised of two four-pointed stars conjoined to a gunmetal orb. The orb possessed a single electronic eye, which gleamed a cheerful blue. The grey metal stars swirled with seeming excitement.
"It worked...you're alive!" He flinched backwards away from the voice. "I can't tell you how good it is that I've finally found you!"
The drone possessed a synthetic voice, one that was obviously female, and rather... bubbly.
"Meet me? But...what are you?" He asked.
"I'm a Ghost? Well, your Ghost to be exact!"
He blinked for a moment, before looking down at his hands, then back towards his 'Ghost'. And given his general state of mind of both confusion and bewilderment, it was understandable that his mind would focus on the 'Ghost' part.
The Ghost, however, took a better look at the newly reborn Gaurdian infront of her. The synthetic human in question was in the form of a lean young man in his mid-twenties with a dark-skin complexion, short black hair, scars that riddled his round face, and almond shaped eyes that had greyish-blue pupils.
His outfit also consisted of a form-fitting skinsuit that severved as a 'second skin' and was made from a titanium nano-composite weave that contoured almost his entire body besides his hands, black cargo pants and laced combat boots.
"Wait...so does that mean that I'm...dead?"
The Ghost paused for a moment. "...Well, you were dead. For a long time. And I mean a really long time. So you're gonna have to catch up on a lot of things you won't understand."
He looked around, finally taking note of his surroundings; he was in a wasteland of some sorts, with broken and rusted cars scattered around. The most noticeable thing that had caught his eye was that they looked like they had been there for ages. Abandoned and forgotten.
Was he truly dead as the Ghost had said earlier?
Had he just been...left here?
Before he could utter a word, a distant roar immediately caught his attention and caused some hairs to stand up. He knew right away that it was alien, but also hostile and threatening.
"We're not safe here." The Ghost said, her tone now serious but also giving a hint of worry. "We're in Fallen territory, and the house that rules this area is really...unpleasant."
She suddenly began to spin.
"Hold still." And just like that vanished in a flash of light, completely gone from his vision and completely catching him off guard.
A second later, a familiar feminine voice sounded off in his head. "Don't worry, I'm still with you. I just linked up with the the HUD that was built into your retinas. We need to get you a weapon, or a ride...anything that can help us get back to the city."
He wanted to say something. Believe him, he really wanted to, but he was too overwhelmed at the moment to utter a word.
"Look. I know you want answers, and I know you'll see things you won't understand at first. But if we stay here, you won't live long enough to get the chance to know why you're here. So run!"
Seeing no reason to argue, he took off in a sprint, sprinting down the dirt road towards the giant structure ahead of him. It was clear that the imposing wall was only a shell of its former glory, with its metal paneling that covered the internal structure in an almost ruined state. Almost as if whoever was building this structure stopped before they could finish.
Or met an unfortunate end.
The entire scene screamed of desperation. "What is this place?"
"This is the old cosmodrome." The Ghost answered. "Just keep running for the wall. Even if it's dominated by the house of Devil's, it's way better than being stuck out here."
Nodding his head in agreement, he kept running. It wan't until at least fifty or so seconds that he realized his lungs didn't start to burn, and his muscles didn't cramp whatsoever. And what was more confusing was that his view was filled with small windows and displays; some of which he barely understood or even remember.
As he came closer towards the entrance of the wall, his ears picked up the same growl from before, now strident and sharper. And with Impulsiveness, he turned towards the searching for it's source.
He couldn't exactly make out the exact details of the figure that stood atop one of the many ruined cars, but as he squinted, his irises began to produce a dimly glow of blue circular circuit patterns as his vision began to zoom closer towards the figure; and what he saw made the hairs on his body stand up.
Said being was clearly humanoid in shape, but that was where that distinction ended. This creature was clearly not human, having multiple arms with some clearly being mechanical replacements, and multiple eyes that glowed a menacing brightness.
The alien being seemed to notice the Guardian as well, staring intently at his general direction before letting out a roar that seemed to have alerted the others go after him.
"Fallen!" The Ghost yelped, the panic was clear in her voice. "If they catch you, they'll most likely tear you apart. So move!"
And so the Guardian did as he hurried along the rusted stairs, and into the confines of the wall. He hadn't paid much attention to the small robot's explanation of the the knife that was positioned on the back of his hip. Something about how she had replicated the materials of some old metals she had found in her travels, with a dash of 'Spinmetal', whatever that may have been. All he knew was that it was a knife, perfectly balanced for a weapon that was designed to resemble a equal parts a kukri, trench, and buck knife.
The walkway creaked and groaned loudly as his feet pounded against its metal surface with the last of the external light slowly faded, leaving only pitch black shadows in its wake.
"Quiet." The Ghost whispered. "They're right above us."
The Guardian complied, taking more quieter steps to avoid creating anymore noise. And although he couldn't see it, he slowly felt the cramped corridors make way for a large and more open space. He decided to stop for a moment as he to make out any sounds of movement that may have lurked in the darkness, but couldn't make anything out. It was then that a small ball of light flickered to life as his Ghost appeared in front of him.
"Hold tight, okay? Fallen love to thrive in the dark. But us? Not so much... I'll see what I can do." The small robot said as she floated away, casting a even more brilliant light that illuminated a vast patch of the structure, revealing large rusted pipes and wires, along with throwing shadows across the walls as it vanished completely; Leaving a lone and unarmed Guardian in the oppressive darkness.
The tense quiet that followed was heavy, and the young Guardian would've been lying if he didn't feel the urge to scream and shout just to break it in the back of his mind. But he kept calm, completely aware that it would do him no good and attract unwanted attention towards himself and possibly his new companion. So he kept quiet, waiting to hear anything from the little robot on its progress.
"Great, another one of these so called 'hardened' military systems... And a couple centuries of entropy working against me I see." The Ghost rambled, which was sweet music to the Guardians ears, along with the floodlight springing to life a moment later.
However, the small victory was not to last as he quickly took notice of the denizens of the darkness that stood before him. Luckily, they where too blinded by the sudden flash of light to take notice of the Ghost as she easily slipped by them and back to her companion.
"Okay, I think we might've overstated our welcome!" The small robot yelled in panic. "We need to go, now!"
The synthetic human didn't think twice as he was already on the move, spotting what he so desperately needed; for behind the lattice gate that was partially lowered, he spotted a rifle that was leaned up against a crate. He throw himself forward, sliding beneath the gate before he got to his feet and snatched the rifle in a full sprint. For some unknown reason, he felt rather comfortable as he checked the weight of his newly acquired weapon in his hands; almost as if a certain instinct that reawakened from a long sleep had sprung back into action. It felt right, natural even.
He continued to push forward, releasing the safety of the ammo as his HUD informed him that the clip was full and the firing mechanism, while somewhat damaged from the lack of use over the years, was still operational.
"Hope you know how to use that thing." The Ghost remarked as her Guardian continued forward, refusing to look back at the hornets nest that she had unintentionally kicked.
Out of the blue, a piece of the ceiling fell just ahead of the Synthetic human; and from the hole, one of those creatures who his Ghost referred to as 'Fallen' fell through and ran towards him with a dagger in one of its hands.
Upon realizing that he had no time to aim, the Guardian instinctively dropped his rifle and unsheathed his knife. He grabbed the aliens thin but deceptively powerful arm before he squeezed it, easily breaking the limb like one would do a twig as it let out a bloodcurdling shriek of pain from its horrid mouth. It's reddish purple blood gushed out from the fracture as it revealing its bone and torn muscle, but he paid it no mind as he immediately stabbed his dense blade hard into the alien's head, piercing its skull with ease as his grip hand surged with energy and surged with a brief shimmer; and like a puppet without its strings, the body immediately went limp as it fell roughly to the ground.
"Not bad, Guardian!' The little robot complemented, the excitement was clear in ts voice. "That was surprisingly nimble, if not a tinsy bit brutal"
However, the Guardian paid little mind to the complement and instead picked up his rifle and continued to run further into the hall. He kept moving forward, if only to shake the feeling of what he just done. It wasn't the killing that managed to unnerve him, no, this was a kill or be killed situation and he knew that hesitating was never an option. But it was the fact that he had little to no reaction in the fact that he essentially slaughtered it that made him a bit uneasy, which made him come to the conclusion that he must have done this often enough to the point that he was used to it.
Soon enough, more Fallen stepped into his path, and he immediately lined up the red dot of the cracked sight of his rifle at the alien's chest before pulling the trigger...
BLAM!
The shot flew wide, completely missing the Guardians intended target. With a grunt of frustration, he detached the sight from his rifle and instead used the targeting reticle that was a part of his HUD and better compensated for the sight. He fired again, this time making a large hole through the center of the creatures skull.
After he stepped over the fresh corpse that leaked its reddish purple lifeblood on the floor, the Guardian made his way into another empty room, with the only other exit out being a hole that was located in the far side of a wall. He quickly sprinted for his exit, which brought him face to face with the cold night air.
Before the synthetic human stood the multiple wrecked remains of buildings, but what really caught his eyes where the three towers that stood tall against the night sky. He couldn't help but observe his surroundings his surroundings with a mixture of curiosity and slight awe. But he also couldn't help but wonder about what must have caused such devistation.
'Not bad, eh? This was an old Cosmodrome from long ago." The Ghost replied, "I'm surprised it's still standing, if not barely... Anyway, I think it's about time we stop all the sight seeing and find us a ship, doncha think?"
The synthetic human nodded in agreement, before a sudden red light blinded his vision as he shielded his eyes with his free hand, and pressed on further through the courtyard. He was surprised when he spotted a huge cruiser warp itself into existence, creating a shockwave that was strong enough to demolish the two farthest towers and shake the ground beneath his feet.
Springing into action, the Guardian took cover behind a wall that was big enough for him to hide over as a Fallen patrol dropped into the Courtyard.
"Well that's weird." The Ghost whispered in interest. "What are Fallen ships doing so close to the surface?"
The Guardian paid his companion little mind as he pecked his head through his cover, picking his shots as he knew too well that the next one could be his last. With a deep breath, he ran towards across the courtyard, which quickly caught the multi-limbed alien's attention as they aimed their guns at him. However, the synthetic human was faster on the draw...
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Each number rang in his head as all of his marks hit dead center.
"Hold on. I'm picking up a signs of an old jumpship" his Ghost informed. "I think I just found our ticket out of here."
"How far is it?"
"In the hangar up ahead."
The Guardian could sense movement within the hangar and approached the hangar with caution, making a quick turn through the giant doorway, only for his eyes to widen as he quickly got into cover.
In the hangar looming over the jumpship that was suspended from the ceiling was a Fallen. But this one was different, the biggest one he and his Ghost had ever laid witness to.
"A Devil Archon..." The Ghost whispered rather loudly. "Well, things just got a bit more complicated."
"Yeah, I see that." The Guardian replied, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "Do you have any ideas on how I can kill it?"
"Well... You could try shooting it. It's been working so far." The small robot suggested, earning an eye roll from her Guardian. "Well I'd like to see your have any better ideas."
Ignoring his Ghost, the synthetic human peeped from his cover; only to immediately regret it as it was clear that the Archon had heard their little chat and approached them slowly.
"...Shit." The Guardian cursed, seeing no reason to hide now that his cover was blown. He stepped out, gun raised as he pulled the trigger. What followed was the sound of gunshots filling the air as empty bullet casings and the smell of cordite also filled the air as the synthetic human let his automatic weapon chew through what was left of his ammunition. But such an effort proved to be meaningless as the Archon was protected by a shield of shorts, letting the bullets bounce from its body as it started to laugh with sick delight.
CliCK! CLICK! CLICK!
The gun clicked three times before the Guardian cursed himself for being so careless. He threw his empty weapon to the floor, seeing no further use for it as he pulled out his knife. The giant, to both the Guardian and his Ghost's surprise, dropped his weapon as well and pulled out its knife as well. Whether felt overconfident over the situation or had some sense of honor was unclear him, but he wasn't going to complain as he readied himself for combat.
The Archon immediately charged towards the synthetic human, but the Guardian was quicker as he dodged its upcoming strike before slashing through, severing on of the alien's left arms. The Archon screamed in a pain as it held the bloody stump, before turning towards its hated enemy and threw it's second knife at him. The Guardian quickly deflected the oncoming knife with his own, but he wasn't quick enough to dodge the Archons heavy strike to his abdomen that sent him flying with enough force to blast him through a wall. He tumbled and rolled over the floor as he dropped his knife in the process.
"Guardian! Are you okay?!" Asked the now worried Ghost. "That looked like it did some major damage!"
"I'm fine." The Guardian replied as he got up on one knee, blood leaking from his forehead and mouth.
Wanting to make sure, the Ghost used her scanner to check for any injuries she needed to heal. But to her surprise, she couldn't find any signs of broken bones or any other lasting damage. Which now that she thought about it, she had realized the she completely forgot about what her Guardian was. He wasn't like any other human who would've easily died from such force, he was a artificially made being whos whole body was most likely designed to withstand such punisment.
The ghost's thoughts immediately turned toward the sound of the enraged Fallen, who bursted through the hole that the Guardian had made from his previous collision, and intending to end his foe once and for all. But the guardian got up to his feet before he narrowed his eyes, and cocked his fist back as if he was charging up. He waited as the Archon approached him closer and closer before...
SPLRCH!
In a blink of an eye, the synthetic human unleashed a devastating blow to the Fallens midsection and smashed a hole clean through, knocking the alien off its feet and back into the hangar. It was there that it now layed with its blood and guts spilled all over the floor, a mangled and blooded mess and a shell of the proud warrior it once was.
The Guardian simply picked up his knife, too focused on the task at had to the point of barely acknowledged what he had just accomplished as he walked through the hole that led back to the hangar. But the Ghost however, floated there in astonishment. Never in her long existence did it see anything so brutal but yet so amazing; if she had a mouth, it would've surely been agape.
The Guardian walked over towards the writhing form of his foe before he knelt down on one knee, raising his knife above his head before he brought it down into its skull; freeing the alien from its obvious torment as its body went limp.
He pulled his blade out from its skull, staying there for what seemed like an eternity with many questions running through his mind at once.
Who was he?
What was he?
And what made him special?
All of these questions and yet when he tried to remember, he couldn't. He had absolutely no idea no recollection of his life before waking up in this strange and hostile world. Everything before today was nothing but a blur and to say that annoyed him to no end was a massive understatement.
But eventually, the Guardian found his composure as he stood back on his feet, taking a look towards the jumpship that he had won as his prize; if one could even call that piece of junk that.
"That was amazing!" His Ghost exclaimed with excitement as it floated beside him, "You killed an Archon, and with one punch no less! No wonder the Traveler chose you!"
Traveler? what did she mean by this Traveler choosing him? More questions where starting to arise.
But before he could ask, the Ghost immediately brought its focus towards the jumpship, which was a complete mess. The casings on the two barrel shaped engines that where installed in the wing structures that jutted from either side of the pointed hull were cracked and possibly broken, and in some place was missing entirely. And not to mention that it was covered in rust like everything else.
"Hmm, It's clearly been here awhile." the Ghost informed him as she floated from his side and towards the 'ship' in question. "Hasn't made a jump in centuries and it's rusted in places it didn't know rust could even grow. But I guess beggars can't be choosers, and the time doesn't seem to mean much right now. I mean, you haven't been up and walking for centuries, but look at you now."
Although the Guardian knew that it was only a joke, a nerve was clearly struck. He steeled himself however as he couldn't help but have a feeling that the answer to whatever question he would ask would not be pleasant, but he decided to ask nonetheless.
"Yeah, you've mentioned that before... What did you mean by that, exactly?"
"...I don't really think that now's the best time for this." The Ghost replied as she continued to scan the ship for any failing systems.
The Guardian furrowed his brow slightly, losing some of his already waning patience as he crossed his arms. "Well I think that the fact that you bringing be back from the dead would've been a good time to explain some things."
"Well excuuuse me! I'm sorry for being in a hurry when, I don't know, a bunch of crazy aliens were wanting to kill us and wanting your head as a trophy!"
"..."
"Okay. How about when we get this ship up and running. I'll answer as many question that you have. Deal?"
"Deal." The Guardian nodded in agreement." So. Can you get it to fly?"
"You bet!" The Ghost replied as it vanished into a sparkle of light.
It was at that moment when the cords that once held the jumship above the ground began to shake as the ancient engines were brought back from their long slumber, with the entire thing dippings as the docking cords released and looked like it was barely holding itself together, but its engines pulled through as it kept it in the air.
"Alright Guardian, hold on tight because it's gonna get bumpy." The Ghost exclaimed as activated a transmat and pulled her Guardian into the ship.
As the duo made their escape from the jumpships broken tomb and threw itself into the sky to a new horizon, a cloaked figure watched elsewhere within the Cosmodrome; being first to witness the star of a new age.
And that's it for the first chapter!
I'm glad I was able to finish this chapter after about a week! As I said before, please support the official release and give fair criticism to this fic, I'm willing to listen and take advice whenever it's needed.
If you have no idea who Tsutomu Nihei or his works, please check them out! I think you'll enjoy what he has to offer.
Also, check out a youtube channel called Inseinen Studios. He's a relatively new youtuber but if you want to hear about any anime or manga your interested in or may have never even heard of, he's your guy!