Chapter 3
A tree[lineage] of probabilities[odds] has its roots[beginnings], millions of branches[outcomes].
What's not always looked at while admiring the bark[story], is the roots[beginnings], the foundation of where it all stemmed from.
The tree[heroes] will eventually decay into Nothing[legend], but the roots[?], the roots[?!], the roots{?_!\ ?}, the r-
—
Garrett's eyes slowly opened, and closed back once again.
These guest beds were way too comfortable.
"You know…" Katherine started, having booted up a few minutes ago, "For someone who has been dead to the point their bones weren't even around anymore, you'd think you'd be rested enough to last you a few centuries…"
Garrett just groaned, he was exhausted after the previous day, with multiple attempts on him and his Ghost, how could he not be?
"I'll give you a few minutes, but you'll have to get up soon. The appointment I scheduled us in for starts in half an hour."
Garrett sighed, and after a few minutes of lying in bed, he sat up, and dangled his still armored feet off the side of the bed. He stood up, grabbing his discarded helmet off the floor, before it disintegrated in his hands.
"Don't worry, I just stored it for when you need it. You shouldn't be wanting to carry that around all day." His Ghost spoke, hovering over his shoulder.
He was about to respond, until he noticed that he wasn't alone in the room.
On the opposite end of the room, another person lay in their own bed. Normally, he would've just gotten on his way, but something stood out about the other in the room.
They were blue.
Well, not like perfect hue blue, but they had a pale radiance to their bleached skin. Their hair was a beautiful mix of black, white and gray, small strands of vaporizing light moving across her visible features. He was drawn to it like a moth drawn to a source of brightness; an odd obsession overcoming him as he saw something so naturally unnatural right before him. He reached out a hand close to her face, intent on feeling the texture; her perfect silver eyes were staring back at him, the eyes had a glow too.
Wait. Her ey-
"What. The. Fuck!"
Garret didn't have time to react as his hand was batted away, and received a slap to the face that sent him stumbling back a few steps. The woman had sat up in her bed, a furious look on her face as she stared the Hunter down. Garrett reeled back, soon realizing that it was in his best interest to leave the room as soon as humanly possible. He ran out of the room, Katherine laughing at him barely able to form her words as it sounded like she was crying from laughter.
—
After the creep had left the room, the woman laid back down, and sighed. Her Ghost appeared next to her; and while the Ghost has found it amusing, it had to talk to her.
"Myra…" It spoke, getting the Woman's attention.
"No! Imagine waking up to that, what the hell is wrong with him?"
"While it was probably not the best way to approach it; he had probably never even seen an Awoken before. I was going to wake you up anyways, the Vanguard already had an appointment scheduled a half an hour from now, they decided to merge us into it aswell. Get dressed, I left your gear on the side of the bed." The Ghost said, disappearing again.
Myra slowly got out of the bed, her skintight black and purple undersuit still on her body, slowly sliding the gear of whatever faction this served onto the corresponding suit, donning the helmet last. She checked her sidearm that rested in her holster, a sense of pride overcoming her; like the sidearm was of importance.
She waited a few minutes before heading to the door, making sure that the creep had left for good. Once it was assured he was gone, she stepped out; her Ghost reappearing in front of her.
"If you would follow me? I'll take us to the Vanguard, but we've still got quite a while. Scenic route?" The Ghost asked, looking back to it's guardian.
"Scenic route."
—
Fate.
Fate is a link in the chain of time.
Fate is a predestined outcome. No matter what is done to change it, that is factored into the equation aswell; there is no escaping it.
What you do, is fate.
What kills you.
Fate.
Fate is all we have left.
Fate is our Destiny.
—
Garrett made his way down a set of stairs, being met with a wisely thought out hallway. Two figures stood on each side, one was a simple machine, and another was a man that was easily taller and bigger than him. He could feel the eyes behind the one horned helmet staring into his skull, and tried his best not to make eye to helmet contact. He finally made it to the end of the hall, albeit a few minutes earlier than he was supposed to be.
Occupying the room were quite a few people, but none looked as significant as the three standing at their respective edges of the table. On his right was a African American woman, whose head was shaved, and was dressed in purple robes. She was staring down the new arrival, and once again Garrett avoided eye contact.
On his left, another machine, but… this one wasn't like the others. It was intelligent to Garrett… alive. The machines color palette didn't match at all; brown and red with a hint of tan all across it's clothing, but the metals on it's features comprised of blue, white, and yellow. He was turned slightly at the moment, speaking to the third at the table.
Last but not least, a man who looked like he owned the room with his bare two hands stood at the opposite end of the table. The man was blue, but a darker shade than the woman he had seen earlier, and his eyes were an electric blue. The man's head wasn't shaven, but bald, he had the air of authority around him, as a leader would in the days of conflict. His armor comprised of larger portions, gunmetal playing with red paint across it, giving a slight wake in his intimidation factor. He was also staring at the new arrival, but not glaring daggers into his soul, more of a warm vibe to it. The man couldn't explain it.
The machine also followed the blue man's gaze, and eventually, the three at the table were all staring at one thing; currently the center of their attention.
Him.
"I uhmm… I was told to be here around this time." Garrett started off, not exactly knowing why he was supposed to be here, but Katherine was excited about something.
"That you are. Your Ghost had arranged for this meeting, as well as another did. We weren't told by either of anything other than that it is of utmost importance. Would you care to enlighten us?" The woman in purple spoke, in studious nature. Before Garrett could answer that he had no idea, the machine spoke up.
"What she's trying to say, is to 'spill it.' We ain't got all day, after all." The machine jabbed, placing his hands flat down on top of the table, leaning forward onto it.
"His first resurrection was yesterday!" Katherine blurted out, unable to contain or help herself; the pride getting to her. Garrett had no clue what the significance of it was, until he looked back at the three others.
The three were looking down at the table, mulling over what they had just heard and whether or not to have faith it Garrett's Ghost. The machine was the first to speak up, shaking his head.
"How longs it been? Five? Ten years?" The machine asked, turning to look towards the blue man.
"Seven." The blue man said, returning his stare to Garrett. He could see the cogs turning, and again was shut out from what he had to say when the black woman spoke up.
"Can you back up these claims, little light?" She asked Katherine, a look of want on the woman's face, but also a look of doubt that crept onto her features.
"Sadly, I can't, but-"
What Katherine was about to respond with was cut short, as a new figure entered the room. The all too familiar blue feminine face was like a punch to the jaw for the Hunter and his Ghost, the woman had her own air of respect on her, possibly due to the fact that she hadn't spotted Garrett yet.
"Good Morning Vanguard, I have been informed of who you are by my Ghost, and they have also informed me of which my resurrection that occurred yesterday is of importance to you three. Could you care to shed some light on my situa- You Again?!" Her professional stature and speech fell apart as she caught a glimpse of her wake up call out of the corner of her eye. She immediately dropped what she was doing, making her way towards the Hunter.
"Hang on a sec… two?" The machine said, giving a small chuckle. "Okay okay, you got us for a minute. Well played you two." He praised, giving a slow clap and another chuckle.
Just before the Myra could tear out Garrett's throat, another figure slowly emerged into the room, this one hearing the machines comments. The figures white robes danced around his body, his mask obscuring his facial features.
"They are of truth, Cayden." The man spoke, walking past the machine, now dubbed as Cayden. The blue man gave a strong salute, and Cayden only gave a lazy one. The woman in purple bowed, and not before long, the room was silent. Even the others working on other stations turned to look at him.
"A day was spoken, where three Guardians would rise from the ashen wake of this system, and squander all that shall oppose the Traveler." He kept walking, staring out of the window towards dozens of snowy mountains. "I believe we are in their midst." He finished, still gazing out the window. The room kept silent until Cayden spoke up again, pointing at the two guardians that stood by.
"My math isn't the greatest, but I count two; where's the third then?" He asked the man in white. Before he could get an answer, one of the workers waved to get their attention.
"I've got a single Cabal infantry ship that just broke orbit, it's heading for the city. Permission to open fire?"
The man in white began to leave the room, looking towards the direction on Cayden.
"There."
The man in white continued his walk, heading towards the two guardians.
The blue man shook his head, and gave the worker an answer. "No, let it land. We will have members of the CTF intercept it's passengers."
The worker nodded, keying his radio and bringing it close to his lips.
"Copy that. Commander Zavala gave a negative on the guns, keep em cold down there fellas. Control to 'City Task Force', we've got a Cabal…"
The man in white approached the two, and the Ghosts had to keep themselves from swooning over being this close to him.
"I am the Speaker. Later today, please do visit the Northern wing of the tower today at 9:00 PM… we have much to discuss…"
And with that, the Speaker left, the tall man from earlier bowing before the Speaker aswell, and soon, the man in white had disappeared.
"Welp. Since I'm one of the only ones that actually feel like talking to you, I'll get you all caught up to speed." Cayden said, getting the twos attention. "Right now, you are now known as what we call guardians, atleast if you're willing to take up the mantle of whatever crap Speaker was rambling about." Cayden explained, but earned a glare from the black woman; but no comments were made.
"There are three classes: Titan, Hunter, and Warlock. Each of us? We are the Vanguard of each. Commander Zavala is Vanguard of the Titans, I'm the Vanguard of the Hunters, and Ikora over there is the Warlock Vanguard." He pointed out each and every one of them.
"I can already see you're a hunter." Cayden pointed at Garrett, more so his cloak. "Believe me, I'm excited. But… what's hers?" He asked, pointing to Myra.
Her Ghost spoke up, a bit disappointed. "I couldn't tell, the darkness in her blood made the light unreadable… she's Reefborn…"
Again, the two newest rezzed had no clue what that meant, but the Zavala nodded in understanding.
"I see… well then, Ikora?" The Commander looked towards the Warlock, and she nodded, outstretching her gloved hand towards Myra. The woman took it, and listened to Ikora.
"Open your mind, Guardian… empty all of unnecessary thoughts and actions, and focus on the void… on the nothing…" And she did, sparks flashing around, and eventually two orbs appeared in her mind. One was an even more colder version of the void, she shuddered from its power and of its restraint on her soul. The other was warm, and she felt like she would be safe behind it, even in death.
She opened her eyes, to be met with Ikora's grin.
"Warlock… She's a Warlock."
—
The Cabal dropship was sputtering, and eventually, there was quiet, but not peaceful quiet.
"We just lost the second engine!" Adam's Ghost called out from the back of the ship, the Exo cursing under his breath. He looked at the objective marker of their LZ disappear, and replaced in the center of a gigantic tower.
"We won't make it to the initially instructed Landing Zone, we've gotta make an emergency landing in the Hangar." His Ghost said casually, the Exo pressing on the stick as hard as he could, feeling the metal bend under his palm. The hangar was rapidly approaching, and the Ghost said four words that made the Exo want to tear it apart right then and there.
"Standing by for Resurrection."
—
"Commander!"
The worker from earlier interrupted the revelation, yelling heard on the other end of his radio.
"The dropship crashed into the hangar instead of heading to the LZ. CTF are responding but it's going to take awhile. Shaxx deployed some red jacks but they won't be able to do much if actual Cabal are onboard."
Zavala turned to the two guardians in the room, looking like he prepared to address them, but then spoke to the machine.
"Cayde, I want you to get these two squared away with what they need. I'm going to head to the hangar; Ikora, you're with me." He said, stepping away from his position at the table, Ikora following in tow as they headed for the Hangar.
A few seconds passed before Cayde/Cayden spoke up again, walking over to the two.
"Alright you two, we're gonna take a walk to the Cryptarchs, get you set up with some gear that's not spinmetal and plating we have no knowledge of." Cayde put his hands on both of their shoulders, turning them around. "Onwards!"
—
Adam coughed as he came to, his Ghost floating around his head, he felt a sting pulse around him, before it had completely disappeared from his mechanical frame.
"We have got to get out of the transport, we have no clue what condition it's in." His Ghost told him, Adam slowly rising to his feet, and limping across the tilted hull of his hijacked ship.
He eventually made it the offload ramp, but it was stuck shut. He was going to try breaking it off, before a purple… mesh started to disintegrate the ramp, eventually, it had dissipated, and three figures were on the other side.
One was a black woman in purple robes, another, a blue man in gear similar to Adams own, and the third was a blond haired woman; who had goggles resting on her forehead and long black gloves, who wiped her forehead clear of sweat.
The African American woman held out her hand, Adam taking it graciously, and stepping out of the crashed ship.
"I'll get the frames to work on the ship, y'all get him safe and up to speed." The blond haired woman said, turning to a bunch of machines and hashing out orders.
Adam turned to the blue man, who in turn spoke to Adam next, a voice of authority resonating from their lips.
"Come. We have much to discuss…"
Adam sighed, what had he gotten himself involved with.
—
1.1 This is the one.
1.2 How sure are you this time?
1.1 Positive.
1.3 You said that the last time, and the time before that, and the time be-
1.1 I know. But I'd place my life on this one, technically we all are, and we don't have a choice on it…
1.2 It's a bunch of myths, besides, we-
1.1 We will assist, and you know it's for the best.
1.3 Well… just… don't tell them anything…
1.1 Don't worry, I won't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain…
1.2 None of us do.
—
A.N
Chapter 3 Is Done! Happy Thanksgiving to all those celebrating today aswell! This chapter was more to explore the Guardians more, and get the Fireteam to where they need to be. Some of the Italicization is just random strains of thought, but others will hint at the future. Let's see if some of you can guess who 1.1 is ^_^
I also constructed a Discord server for my work. Currently, this is the only remaining writing after I purged everything else, but hey, I'd love to chat with some of you!
The link works, just take away the spaces and it should allow you in!
discord . gg / C9YEgcS
Lastly, the opening may seem familiar if you have read 'Guardians Never Die,' and that's because I used that scene as inspiration for this story. Just giving credit to Matt!
Other than that, I've got nothing left to say. Until next time!
Echorent
