Prelude to The Red War

5 days after the attack

He'd stopped trying to fight a long time ago. The rumbling from the drills slowly burrowing into the door was all he had left. Even his ghost was silent, as it had been since the Fall. It had been so long since he'd ever given death a second thought, and now, it was at the forefront of his mind. There was nothing else left. All his distress calls returned only static, and the signal went unanswered.

The sudden silence seemed to boom throughout the chamber far louder than the drills ever had as they ground to a halt, and the sudden lack of the vibrations upon the titanium door confused the lightless Guardian, and he stood, placing his ear upon the door to see if he could figure out what had happened to stop the Cabal's mighty drill.

Oh so softly came a soft tapping from the other side of the door, and the lightless Guardian's heart skip a beat as he slowly tapped out a response. The single click against the door was all he needed, and he quickly began removing the deadbolts as quickly as he could.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the doors creaked open with a slight shaking, and the Guardian found before him a massacre. The Cabal were dead, torn to shreds by strange weaponry, that he knew all too well. The Fallen slowly emerged from their hiding places, and the one in the lead, a large female Vandal, approached him, and then bent the knee to him.

"Skiviks, you've returned." The lightless Guardian's Eliksni was a slight bit off, and his voice was gruff and labored, the still bleeding wound in his side making things difficult for him.

"My Kell. It has been a long time. I have returned to you, and I have brought you an army, and… A present." The Vandal stands and turns, motioning to the Dregs in the back. They quickly scramble to lift up a massive crate, which they bring forward and place in front of the lightless Guardian, scrambling away and keeping their eyes on the ground. The Guardian slowly opens the crate, and carefully lifts up the bright white shard within, holding it up to the sunlight.

"Oh my loyal Skiviks. How I've missed you. We have much catching up to do. I've been gone for quite some time, and learned so much. And this, this will help us begin our mission." With a vicious laugh, the Guardian crushes the shard in his hand, and Light explodes from it, flowing into his body and reviving that which he'd lost. His Ghost jolts back to life, and it circles up from within the rubble where'd left it lazily, confused. "And now, I possess my Light once more, and this war shall begin. My House, we must prepare. We shall begin with the Cosmodrome, and soon, we shall own this entire planet, and the solar system. All shall be ours!"

The Guardian watches, a smug smile upon his face, as the Fallen rush back towards the ships they had come from, collecting as much of the Cabal technology as they could. The Guardian then sighs, and pulls a small photo from his pocket, and stares at it, memorizing every inch of the photo, from his own smile, to the face of the woman with her arms around his neck.

"Oh my love. I stayed with you for quite some time… but now, it is time for me to return to whence I came. There is something far more important than either of us at play here, and as long as you serve the Vanguard, I cannot stay with you." The Guardian sighs as he turns the photo over to stare at the names on the back, before his fingers burst into Solar flame and ignite it, disintegrating the photo, but not before burning the names on the back into his mind.

Edward Faust and his Precious Ana, allies no more.

Edward placed his helmet back upon his head as he set off after the Fallen, The House of Guards, of which he, was now Kell.

Oh boy. So, I know this is hella short, but it's not a full chapter. As the title implies, this a prelude. I'm working on the First Chapter of The Red War, and I've been considering making a new Story submission thing so I can properly start over from Chapter one, and it'll just be a continuation of this story(Obviously). But yeah, just couldn't find a good spot in a chapter to put this, so, here it is.

Also

I am 100% aware I forgot to change the Chapter number to 16 in the last chapter. Fight me(Don't, I'll lose.)