- 3 Months Later -
The tent was quickly and efficiently packed away with the help of the Ghosts. The hooded figures of the three individuals watching them stood upright, their ripped robes and fabric garments blowing in the wind, but protecting them from the harsh bite of sand scraping across the body. The Ghosts finished dematerializing the equipment, and following the routine they'd been following everyday, they turned around and set off to explore more uncharted territory.
The last three months had been a massive nomadic journey. The storm had come and gone with varying levels of strength, but it hadn't ended so far in the entirety of the time they'd been here. Their life consisted of walking in the sand and weather each day, attempting to find the stronghold as well as shelter for the next night, and failing that, a place to set up camp with their tents. It was several hours before anyone even talked since they were so used to the silence of Mercury save for the howling wind of the storm. Ash turned her hooded face towards her shoulder where Whip hovered.
"How long have we been out here, Whip? On Mercury?" The Ghost looked at her as they walked.
"Today is the ninety seventh day of searching, or just over three months. Why?" She faced the path ahead of her again, the wind and sand blowing against her.
"Just curious."
Seraph flew in front of them all, having no Guardian to merge within. Ash leaned towards Whip. "How do you think she's holding up?" The young Ghost hadn't said anything to any of them in quite a while, worrying Ash.
Whip whispered back, "Not well. I mean, I'd be lost if I didn't have you. A Ghost without a Guardian is… well, a sad thing indeed. Let's just hope we find this place soon."
Suddenly, a dark mass appeared in front of her. She stopped to avoid hitting it, and heard the questions of the other two behind her. "Why'd we stop?" She reached a hand out to touch the shape in front of her, and felt it touch something hard and jagged. It was rock, and she started moving around to see more of the mass. This close, she was able to see that the rock stretched into an incline that formed a makeshift path up a mountain.
"I've got good news and bad news guys," she said, turning around to face her comrades. "There's a mountain in front of us."
Aria crossed her arms. "How does a mountain suddenly just sneak up on us like that?"
Ash pondered this. "The storm has gotten to the point where it's difficult to see more than a few feet in front of us, so that's why we probably didn't see it; most of it is covered in sand and rock anyway, a lot of it being the same color as the sand blowing in the wind. But that's where the good news comes in."
"And what would that be?" asked the Stranger. Ash pointed up the landmass.
"There's a possible path up to the top, and it will be easier to see where we're going from up there."
The Stranger contemplated for a moment, then nodded her head. "It's worth a shot, at least." Aria gave no argument, and they couldn't really afford to waste time just standing around debating. Ash grabbed the top of the first rocky outcrop, and pulled herself up on top of it. Kneeling and then reaching a hand down, she helped up Aria, and then the Stranger. Once all of them were up, they precariously set along the path that Ash had spied.
In many places, the path was almost invisible due to the sandstorm, and some chunks of the ground were missing. Had they stepped in any of these areas, they would have fallen down the side of the mountain. Fortunately, the Ghosts scanned the ground in front of them, alerting them to possible dangers wherever they found one.
After some length of time that Ash wasn't really keeping track of, they came across a large rectangular opening into the mountain. The opening was in the center of a cluster of Vex blocks, and almost seemed to beckon them in. "At least it's shelter," commented Ash, seeing that the storm wasn't blowing into the opening. With this in mind, they ventured through.
Once inside, artificial light assaulted them. This structure was obviously abandoned, though strangely connected to a power source. "What the hell? Why would this site have power?" asked Aria, her mind scanning through possible explanations.
"Maybe there's a power grid, and this area just happens to run on the same one," suggested the Stranger. That caused Ash to stop in her tracks.
"What's the matter Ash?" whispered Aria, alarmed at her friend's sudden behavior. She turned around excitedly.
"If there's a power grid nearby, then that means that the Vex are using power somewhere near here."
Aria shrugged. "So?"
"So," continued Ash, "we've seen tons of Vex structures without power here. What could they possibly be using power for here of all places?" It clicked in their heads, and both the Stranger and Aria understood.
"You don't think…?" began Aria tentatively.
"Why not? We were bound to run across it sooner or later," the Stranger pointed out.
Ash made a follow-me gesture. "Let's go!"
They ran with renewed energy through the structure, following the apparent pathway that led throughout the mountain. There was no talk, only the powerful urge that drove them to continue running, to see if there was finally an end to their struggles for the last few months.
After many turns and inclines, they exited the mountain's interior through another rectangular doorway. Up here at this altitude, the sandstorm could not reach them, and they could actually see it as a whole down below, covering practically all the landscape for miles and miles. And then they saw it.
The ground beneath them was a ledge of a cliff. The sandstorm was still raging, but it seemed to be doing less so here, making it much easier to see. Looking over the precipice, there were giant canyon walls on either side of them, several hundred feet in either direction. In front of them, the canyon led into a massive crater, a pit that seemed to have no end. Four incredibly large support beams stretched from anchor points around the canyon, and met underneath an enormous structure held in place above the pit by the support beams. The structure almost seemed to look like a machine-like castle, and there was only one entrance; a giant bridge nearly two hundred feet in width, that reached for nearly half a mile before it met the entrance to the giant facility.
On the sides of the entrance were two unbelievable massive doors that would more than prevent entry should they close; fortunately, the doors were open currently. The entrance itself was nearly one-hundred feet tall, and as wide as the bridge.
"That's the stronghold," said the Stranger with a tone of disbelief. Ash didn't blame her. They'd been searching for so long it had seemed they might never find it, yet here it was in front of them They could simply jump from the edge, land on the ground down below, and charge across the bridge through the entrance. Except…
"Vex," spat Aria, indicating the collection of Goblins, Hobgoblins, Minotaurs, and Harpies that littered the area of the bridge and the canyon below them.
"I suppose if you're going to guard something, guard it well," muttered Ash.
"There are too many," said the Stranger, surprising Ash and Aria. "Not even I suspected that we would be this outnumbered… there must be thousands!"
Ash grabbed her arm and pulled her close. "Look, Aria and I are doing this. We're going to get in there, retrieve the Spark, and save both the Traveler and all of the Guardians that died protecting it. Are you with us or not?"
The Stranger opened her mouth to argue, then closed it and said nothing, instead nodding very slowly. Ash let her go. "Alright then. Aria, you good to go?" Aria patted the side of her pulse rifle that Echo had retrieved for her. "You bet." Whip materialized Ash's scout rifle above her hands, and she caught it as it fell.
The Stranger retrieved her own yellow pulse rifle from her back, having no Ghost to store her items. "I hope you two are prepared for this."
Ash looked out at the impossible odds before them. Seraph flew next to her. "You ready to get your Guardian back Seraph?"
The Ghost looked at her and nodded. "I am. Are you?"
She looked out at the waves of Vex, thinking of every single one of them as a soldier of the Darkness, and by fault, a contributing factor to Matt's death. She turned off the safety on her rifle. "I think we all are."
Without a backward glance, she leapt off the cliff ledge. She flew towards the ground, waiting until she was about twenty feet to touchdown before activating her jump pack. Her speed gradually slowed down before her feet made contact with the ground, and she bent her knees to absorb the impact. Next to her on either side, Aria and the Stranger completed their descents as well. All three began charging forward through the canyon, eager to get as much speed and progress as possible before being noticed by the Vex.
It wasn't until they'd actually made it onto the bridge itself that any of the Vex finally noticed. A Goblin turned its red eye in their direction, and immediately all the others followed suit. It wasn't long before they were, in addition to running across the half-mile long bridge, evading fire and returning it as well. The air quickly became filled with the heat of lasers targeting them from all directions, criss-crossing in the air.
"Right now would be a really useful time for us to have a Ward of Dawn!" yelled Aria, firing to the side to take out a Minotaur raising its cannon to launch a void projectile.
Ash called back, "Or a Nova Bomb to clear out some of these bastards!" She threw her fist forward, her plated hand punching through the white center of a Hobgoblin, crushing its circuitry inside.
The Stranger held off several Harpies that chased them from behind. She grunted, "Well we don't have those in our arsenal, and you won't have them again unless we get to that Spark!"
A large Praetorian turned its mechanical head and emitted a series of shrieks and squeals to several other Vex. The noises were repeated back by every Vex that heard it, and soon the air was filled with the sound of metallic screeching. As though they triggered an alarm, the massive doors that stood open to the stronghold now began to close and block off the two-hundred foot wide entrance. They moved like sliding doors, albeit massive, stone-and-metal sliding doors. If they closed, there was no way they were going to get in.
"Hurry!" yelled Ash to her companions, and without time to waste, they began sprinting across the bridge towards the entrance, now in a race to outrun the doors and enter before they could close. Vex still fired at them, but their numbers were thinning out the closer they got to the entrance. Ironically, the weakest line of defense was closest to what they were protecting. Apparently they hadn't expected anyone to attack, let alone make it this far.
The rumble of the door's stone material sliding against rock shook the ground, and the vibrations travelled through the bridge and into their legs, just another reminder of what they were trying to do. The doors had now closed to a point where the entrance to the facility, having at first been two hundred feet wide, was now limited to merely seventy feet in width, with another foot disappearing about every second or so. This revelation forced Ash to run faster, determined to beat the clock. She hadn't been searching for so long, hadn't gotten so close to saving Matt, just to be defeated by a set of large sliding doors.
Finally, they were within three hundred feet of the entrance. The width had now been reduced to just twenty to thirty feet wide. Pushing herself harder than she'd ever pushed before, she set her entire life's goal on simply making it inside those doors. She could hear Aria panting from exhaustion behind her, and hoped that the Awoken girl would hold on for just a few seconds longer. She came closer and closer, and the opening became smaller and smaller… twenty feet… fifteen feet… ten feet…
With a last burst of speed, she reached the entrance with less than a five foot wide gap between doors. The Stranger and Aria came charging in immediately after her, and they all collapsed to the ground as the doors closed with a resounding slam behind them, dust billowing from the seam. Aria gasped over and over, attempting to force air into her lungs. Ash and the Stranger rested as well, allowing the strain of force against their limbs and motors to settle down. Though they might have had the souls of living beings, they had the bodies of machines, and even machines needed to rest.
With the doors closed, there was almost no light save for the luminescent blue eyes of the Ghosts in the room. "Well," began Echo, "we made it in. The hard part now is grabbing the Spark, and getting out."
Seraph hovered over to Ash. "There's Darkness in these walls, but I can also sense… light." She indicated a direction deeper into the facility. "That way."
Ash stood up properly, and walked over to Aria, extending her arm. "C'mon, let's get a move on. Our job isn't done yet." The Warlock accepted the helping hand gratefully, and allowed Ash to help pull her to her feet. The Stranger looked at them with almost a sad sort of longing, the desire to be part of a team, a family once again.
Ash noticed the look, and decided not to comment. "Lead the way, Seraph," she said to the young Ghost. Seraph cautiously began to fly forward, leading them deeper into the hallways and passages of the stronghold. Every turn and passage seemed to bring them closer to the center of the structure, likely where the Spark would be. The ceilings were high inside, as high as the doors had been outside. It all felt strangely empty, considering how many Vex had been seen outside. Apparently the Darkness was so arrogant that it hadn't set up proper defenses against intruders.
A large set of doors stood before them finally, a large chain holding them shut. Seraph zipped up to it, and began to shoot her blue beam at it. Within a few seconds, the chain disintegrated, fading away in a small flash of orange as its particles dispersed in the air. With a tentative hand, Ash reached forward and pushed the door open.
It moved surprisingly easily, and opened into a large chamber. In the center of the chamber was an altar of sorts, a series of circular steps that led up to a cylindrical pedestal in the middle of the room. A blackish bubble hovered above the pedestal, and inside the bubble was…
"The Spark!" exclaimed the Stranger, her shock and excitement shared mutually among Aria and Ash as well. Each of them slowly ascended the circular tiles until they stood next to the round plinth. The bubble appeared to be made of some kind of liquid-like substance, but what was even odder appeared to be the fact that whitish black flames licked the side of the bubble, as though it were ignited. Seraph flew backwards in fear. "That bubble is composed of Darkness, like the Black Garden's heart! If you touch it, it will corrupt your soul!"
Aria reached out, inching her fingers towards it to test. The closer they came, the colder she felt, as though ice was filling her insides. Disturbing thoughts crossed her mind until she could bear it no more, and she pulled her hand back sharply.
"It's lucky then that you brought me." The Stranger faced the bubble and reached out. "No, wait-!" cried out Seraph, but to everyone's surprise her fingers passed through easily. She gripped the Spark, and as she did so, the bubble of Darkness disappeared, dissolving into thin air. As it did so, Aria and Ash felt something change within themselves, as though some kind of mental weight on their chest had suddenly lifted, and the air around them became lighter, more friendly and inviting.
-X-
The Vanguards pored over several maps of the city on their long table, marking places that would need defending should a second wave ever hit. After three months however, the possibility seemed unlikely.
None of them had really spoken about it, but after such a long length of time without word from Ash or Aria, the Vanguards had little hope that they were still alive. Zavala and Ikora were now feeling the loss as heavily as Cayde had when Matt died. Of course they'd all been saddened by the deaths of so many Guardians in the final battle, but there was just a bond that they had formed with these particular three that drew them to care quite strongly about them. The loss was a great blow in any matter, even if it were simply for the fact that three of the greatest Guardians to exist in recent times had perished.
Suddenly, each of them gasped out loud as a force like a punch in the stomach came over all of them. Recovering their breath, they felt a great presence leave them, as though there had been something looming over them that they hadn't noticed until it was gone.
They turned to each other in confusion before looking towards the doorway as the sound of quick footsteps approached them. Jogging into the Hall of Guardians was the Speaker, and he looked upon them with a tangible sense of joy.
"Did you feel it too?" he asked. "They've done it! The Spark of the Traveler has been freed!" The Veteran Guardians all faced each other with disbelief and shock on their features, smiles slowly starting to form on all of them.
-X-
She held out the Spark to Ash for her to carry, and the Titan willingly accepted it. In her hand, it felt as though she were holding a ball made of liquid. It was warm, and she felt herself filling up with light from contact with it. Rays of brightness shone from it, and the outer layer was a sort of membrane that she could force her fingers through. She looked up at the Stranger. "How did you know that it wouldn't destroy you?"
The Stranger gave her a look of regret. "I may have changed what side I was fighting for, but that doesn't lift the sins of my past from my soul. I'm still, and always will be, part of the Darkness to a degree. I am immune to corruption if I'm already corrupt."
Seraph looked at the Spark curiously. "That's odd, I'm detecting… power, but old power… power that hasn't been touched in centuries."
Ash snapped her fingers. "That's awesome, but do you think that we could possibly do what we came to get this thing for?"
The Ghost looked at her for a second, and then nodded vigorously. "Of course. Don't think that I don't want him back just as much as you two do; I was merely commenting. Show me the Spark." Ash held it out towards her, and as she did so white light began flowing from the Spark and into the Ghost. Once the flow stopped, Seraph looked at a spot near the base of the altar, and began to expand into her spherical form.
Blue light pulsed from her, and she increased her radius to allow a larger area of exposure. Light began to fill the area, pure bright light. A humanoid shape began to take form, and it slowly transitioned from a blurry sort of mess to a clear cut image the longer the light surrounded the area. A few more seconds passed, and suddenly a white flash blinded all of them, sending them reeling and stumbling.
Aria blinked her eyes rapidly, attempting to rid herself of the blindness. Suddenly, she stopped. Laying down where Seraph had been pulsing was the body of Matt, clothed in his black under-suit. Nobody moved or said anything, too shocked to believe it had worked. The tension in the air was so tangible, it could have been cut with a knife.
A groan emitted from Matt's mouth, and pushed Ash into action. She rushed over to his side, inserting her arms underneath his back to lift his torso from the floor. "Matt? Are you there?" He opened his eyes, and looked at her.
"Okay, so you're not gonna believe the crazy dream I was having." He smiled.
All of Ash's composure dissolved as she laughed, and pulled him forward into an embrace, overjoyed at the fact that he was with them once again. He wrapped his arms around her to reciprocate. "We missed you so much," she said through deep breaths. "I missed you."
"I know. I'm here now." He glanced up slightly. "Seraph! How's my favorite little Ghost doing?"
She chuckled. "Oh you know, still triggering alarms and whatnot. The usual."
He looked up even further to see Aria and the Stranger standing there. "Aria!" he called happily, motioning for her to join them. She took the opportunity smiling, and all three now hugged each other on the ground, happy at being together once more.
"I don't mean to break up the happy reunion," said the Stranger carefully, "but we do still have the issue of getting out of here." Ash and Aria nodded, but Matt appeared confused. "Wait, where are we?" He furrowed his brow. "For that matter, how did you guys even bring me back? I used up all the Traveler's light in the core!"
Aria began to explain, "Well, we travelled to Mercury to seek out the Vex prison holding the Spark of the Traveler so that we could retrieve it, and use it to begin healing the Traveler and revive most of the Guardians we lost in the final battle, including you. We've been walking on foot around Mercury for about 3 months now, have managed to bypass an entire Vex army, and are now trapped inside the stronghold since I don't think those huge doors are gonna be opening any time soon." She gestured to one of the hallways behind her, apparently indicating the entrance a ways back.
Matt's mouth made a small 'o' shape. "Okay… I'm gonna assume that's bad."
She nodded. "Pretty much."
Seraph began to transmat various armor pieces of Matt's gear. "Before I unveil my bad idea, I think it's probably a good bet that you're going to need your gear." He started putting his stuff on as she spoke to the group in general.
"There may still be a way out of here. It's just a bit unorthodox, though I highly doubt you all would mind that considering the stuff I've seen you all do." Ash cocked her head. "And what would this idea be?"
The Ghost flew over to the Spark, still being held by Ash. "This is how. I think I know what that power I scanned earlier from the Spark is; it's a set of abilities, long forgotten by Guardians as the years have gone by. After so long, those powers have become nothing but rumors, legends told to those who will listen."
She flew over to Matt, now dressed in his gear. "Tales of the Nightstalker." She hovered over by Aria. "The Stormcaller." Finally, she looked at Ash. "And the Sunbreaker. They once were in abundance, but were left behind as those who wielded the abilities slowly disappeared, the cause of which is unknown. But now, with the actual Spark of the Traveler among us, I believe us Ghosts can infuse you with its light, and transfer those abilities to you all."
Aria scratched the top of her helmet. "But how are these abilities going to help us get out of here?"
The young Ghost turned to her. "I'm sure a Nova Bomb or two could break at least a reasonable hole in those massive doors. However, you must remember that there's still an entire Vex army on the other side, and your abilities are mostly focused on killing specific targets you set aside for yourself."
"The Gunslinger only has a few seconds of energy before you become drained of light, enough to get out maybe the magazine of a hand cannon. The Bladedancer can tear through enemies like paper, but are limited with their movement, only able to kill those in close proximity to them if at all. The Striker can kill as many people as are around them, but it's a one-off ability, and takes a lot of energy. The Defender can only protect from inside their Ward of Dawn, and frankly it wouldn't really help us right now. Nova Bomb would be effective if we could use a huge number of them, but even creating one out takes a lot out of someone. The Sunsinger is useful for bringing oneself back from the dead and supporting others, but not much else."
She looked towards the Spark once more. "What we need are these abilities, abilities meant to take on massive numbers of enemies, not just two or three." She motioned towards the hallway. "Enemies like the Vex army outside."
Matt looked conflicted for a second, and then shrugged. "Why not? If she says it's our best bet, I'm inclined to believe her." He then looked at his friends beside him. "Unless of course, you guys have any objections? I must admit, I don't know too much about what's going on. You know, the whole coming-back-from-the-dead thing."
Ash put a hand on his shoulder. "Even so, you're still our leader. Whatever you decide, we'll do it."
Aria nodded. "That's right. You haven't led us astray before, and I don't believe you'll start now." He looked at the Stranger. She shrugged. "I have no qualms. I've seen you in battle, you know what you're doing." He accepted each of their praise, and stared at Seraph. "Alright then. Let's do this."
She spun around in her little twirl. "Ooh, I love it when things get intense! Whip, Echo, I need you!" The two other Ghosts materialized. "Each of you stay next to your Guardian, as they absorb some of the Spark's light. We're going to search through it, and find the specific power that they must infuse within themselves. All you need to do is make sure that only that power goes through the transfer of light into them, who know what else is floating around inside there." She faced the Guardians. "You three, I need you to form a circle with the Spark in the center, and place your hands upon it."
Ash lifted her hand still holding the Spark, and brought it away. The Spark still maintained its position in the air, hovering as though waiting for them. Each of them placed their hand on top of it from a different side, forming an odd triangle in shape. As they did so, ethereal gas and white vapor began moving up their arms, and into them. "Whip, Echo, monitor that!" The Ghosts scanned the Spark, and each found the respective abilities that were needed for each Guardian. They filtered the flow of energy from the Spark, as Matt, Ash, and Aria glowed white with the light moving into them.
-X-
The Vex continued to move across the bridge, making their way towards the huge doors which the Guardians had managed to get through before they closed. Each unit was prepared to fire, should the doors open to let them out. With this many Vex, the air would easily be filled with nothing but the burning heat of lasers. There would be no escape for these pathetic soldiers of the Traveler.
Suddenly, there was a noise. It sounded like flame igniting, and it came from behind the doors. They all readied themselves accordingly, waiting for the doors to-
Wham. The noise of something hitting the door sounded out, and it sounded powerful. What could possibly make that-
Wham. It repeated, once more causing the Vex to search through their collective memory to see what that sound could possibly be. Finally, they came across memories from years past, and fear, the one emotion the Vex hadn't felt in a long time, began to increase tenfold, absolute hatred of this source due to the power and damage it dealt to their forces-
WHAM! With an explosion of rock and flame, a hole appeared in the doors near the bottom, having been broken apart by the fiery hammer that Ash wielded. She charged through, throwing her Hammer of Sol into the groups of Vex again and again, as it returned to her hand each time she threw it. It blew apart the machines, circuitry flying everywhere, bodies smoking and aflame. A large group of Minotaurs that had been towards the back of the initial wave trained their eyes on her, and readied their aim.
"Oh no you don't!" yelled Matt, leaping into the air and firing off a Shadowshot. The void projectile impaled a Minotaur towards the center of the pack, and immediately purple tethers of void energy shot out, attaching themselves to the other nearby Minotaurs, and effectively suppressing them. He mopped them up with several shots from his hand cannon, the tethers having weakened them from exposure to pure void energy.
More waves of Vex continued to move up the bridge towards them, attempting to fill the gap of Vex that they'd just destroyed. They soon were stopped as well, however, by the lightning and sparks that shot from Aria's fingertips toward them as she entered her Stormtrance. Moving through the ranks of Vex, arcs of lighting chained through the machine beings, and completely fried their motors and wiring, obliterating them with pure arc energy.
The Stranger ran behind them, letting of bursts of fire from her pulse rifle to clean up whatever the other three missed. Within a few seconds, a large portion of the Vex's numbers had been neutralized.
"Come on! We have to get to the top of that mountain!" yelled Ash as she lead the charge, her hammer slamming against the ground again and again, breaking through the lines of Vex one throw at a time. "Start calling in the Javelin, Whip!"
"On it!" responded the Ghost.
"What's at the top of the mountain?" yelled Matt, letting loose another Shadowshot.
"You see this sand that's blowing in the wind? It's from a storm that'll destroy the Javelin's engines if it clogs them up!" explained Aria, calling over her shoulder as she electrocuted several Harpies. "And I'm assuming we want transport, correct?" She flew forward, this group taken care of.
"That would be the preferable option, yes!" he responded.
The Stranger pointed. "Look!" The Javelin was soaring in from above, and slowed its velocity enough to make a stop above the mountain, just above the cliff which they'd stood on before. They continued moving across the half-mile long bridge until they reached the base. Vex still swarmed the area surrounding the anchor points where the bridge was attached to the side of the pit. Dodging projectiles left and right, Matt fired off one last Shadowshot to keep the Vex at bay, allowing them to continue moving forward and reach the foot of the mountain.
"Start climbing!" Whip called out. Once each of the Guardians made it to the base and stopped using their super abilities, they began ascending the slope, using rocks and outcrops as stepping stones to make it to their destination. Their climb was made even more difficult by the sandstorm buffeting them, and the Vex soldiers which fired at them from below. The lasers hit rocks above and below them, sometimes sending a few chunks tumbling down and into the paths of the Guardians climbing the mountain. Eventually things got slightly easier once they reached an altitude above the sandstorm.
"Hurry!" cried Ash who was near the ledge they needed to go to. Reinvigorated with energy, the other three pushed themselves even harder and faster. One rock was loose, and as soon as the Stranger gripped it, it crumbled and sent her falling below.
Aria, who was conveniently below her, reached out a hand and caught the Exo by the wrist. Using the last reserves of her strength, she pulled the Stranger up and to the rock face so that she could continue climbing. "Thanks," panted the Stranger, not pausing to chat. It was only another minute or so before they reached the top along with Matt and Ash.
"Alright, we can transmat inside now." said Echo.
"Hold on a second," muttered Matt, and he walked over to the edge of the outcrop, staring down at the Vex below. Echo looked questioningly at Aria, and she shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know what he was doing either.
Matt waved at the Vex down below. "Hey! Yes, you down there, all of you!" Slowly, they turned their collection of red eyes up to look at him, bewildered. They hadn't expected one of them to initiate conversation. "I have a message for the Darkness, so turn on your recording devices or whatever, and listen up!" They simply stared at him, too stunned to react.
He gestured behind him to the other three. "You have tried to kill us many, many times. You actually almost succeeded in killing me, though I get the final credit for killing myself, thank you very much." He laughed. "I just want you to realize that no matter how hard you've tried, we always manage to come out on top. You can beat us down, you can imprison us, you can even kill us apparently, but we won't stay down for long." He raised his hand into the air in a mock fist-pump.
"Guardians never die! At least, not really. Even if you take away our friends, take our worlds, take our lives, our legend will always live on!" He pointed at the Vex as though they were a camera now. "And as for you?" He then proceeded to insult the Vex and the Darkness by way of old human tradition; raising his middle finger at them and flipping them off. "You can SUCK IT!"
The Vex emitted squeals and screeches of hatred, and resumed firing at them. Matt ducked his head back from the ledge before he could be hit, and looked at Echo. "Now, we can go." The Ghost shook his head as Aria placed her face in the palm of her hand, and Ash laughed.
The Stranger simply smiled. "What an eloquent speech, Guardian." He bowed in mock honor and gratitude as blue grids surrounded them, and transmatted them onto the Javelin. The next floor they felt was the metal plating of their ship, and they cheered as the Javelin began to rise up, and propelled itself towards the sky, leaving Mercury and its horrors behind.
-X-
The Javelin slowly entered the hangar, following the guidance of a Frame waving them in with green traffic control sticks. Matt felt slightly uneasy. "How do you think everyone's gonna react? I mean, you did break orders, not that I'm complain of course, but I'm just wondering if Ikora Rey is going to summon a ball of void energy again and say something like, 'How dare you disobey me!' you know?"
Aria laughed. "Somehow, I don't think she's going to do that." She bit her lip. "I am, however, also concerned that there might be consequences for what we've done. I mean, we did technically commit mutiny."
Ash stood up from her pilot seat, and looked at them. "Whatever happens, just ask yourselves; was it worth it? Was what we did worth the risk?"
Matt raised his hand, and kept a straight face. "I didn't really do anything, 'cause I was dead the whole time, so what do I ask myself?"
Ash responded to his joke with a smile and said, "Are you happy to be alive?"
He pretended to think about it for a moment. "Ooh, that's a tough one. I'm gonna go with… yes, I am very happy to be not-dead."
He and Aria stood up as the boarding ramp lowered. The Stranger, who had been standing behind them, looked down and out through it. "You three may not have to worry about that." Curious as to what she meant, they moved towards the ramp and descended to the hangar floor below.
As they did, cheers rang out from a huge crowd of Guardians that had come to greet them, having been alerted to their ship returning home by Amanda Holliday's monitoring of airspace. At the front of the crowd were the Vanguards. Ikora held her composure well, though she did smile warmly at the fact that they were all still alive. Zavala lightly clapped along with the other Guardians, and Cayde was all out applauding, and telling any Guardian who would listen, "I helped put their mission together! You're welcome everyone!"
Standing in front of the Vanguards was the Speaker. He was unreadable, and gave no body language for them to react to. They continued walking down the ramp until they stood in front of him, and he held up his hand. Immediately, the crowd silenced itself.
"Do you have it?" he asked. Matt motioned to Seraph.
"Could you get it for us, Seraph?" Immediately, the Spark appeared in the air, Seraph having materialized it from storage. The Speaker reached out, and gently grabbed it. It pulsed with white light, and he looked up at them.
"You truly have saved the Traveler, as well as countless other Guardians that its light will now help resurrect. You have both my thanks and my respect." He bowed to them deeply.
"Oh no, that's alright…" Ash stopped speaking as every Guardian in the crowd followed his lead, including the Vanguards. They all stooped low and silently to show their gratitude towards the amazing feat which their fire team had accomplished. Aria felt her heart beating in her chest. Less than a year ago, she'd been a novice trainee. She'd been waiting for a chance to become a Guardian, to prove herself amongst other followers of the light. And now, the entire assembly of Guardians, including the Vanguards and the Speaker, were bowing to her and her companions. She had more than proved her worthiness, and that was all that mattered to her.
The Speaker stood back up. "As I understand it, you've all had a long journey." He face Matt, and chuckled. "You most of all. It's good to see you once more, my young Guardian."
Matt nodded. "Oh believe me, it's good to be back."
The Speaker faced them all now. "I wish I could stay, but I have work to do. The Spark must be returned to its rightful place, and the Guardians lost must be revived." With a curt nod, he began to exit the hangar, taking the Spark with him.
The Vanguards walked closer, filling the gap that the Speaker had left. "You three have achieved more than we even dreamt was possible," praised Ikora.
Zavala nodded. "What you've done can only be described as… well, as-"
"Amazing! Fantastic! Absolutely frabjous!" exclaimed Cayde. "I don't think there's been a better team of Guardians to ever set foot in the Tower! What'd I tell you both?" He gestured to the other two Vanguards. Off to the side, Ikora muttered to herself, "What on earth does frabjous mean…?"
"Also, you! Yes, you in the back there!" Cayde pointed to the Stranger who was attempting to remain unseen behind them. "Gotta give credit where it's due, and you helped out just as much as these three, perhaps even more, I don't know." He walked over to her, and extended his hand. "For what it's worth, you have my respect and forgiveness. You're welcome here any time you wish." Neither Ikora nor Zavala raised any objections.
She shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but there's still much work to be done. I myself have an urgent mission that I've taken leave of, and now that I'm back I believe it's time to resume that mission…" With that, she walked towards the exit of the hangar towards the courtyard, and left. Cayde shrugged.
"Ah well, I offered. C'mon you three, there's gonna be a celebration tonight I tell ya." The Vanguards began following the same path the Stranger had walked down.
Matt moved toward the large opening into the hangar, looking out at the Traveler. Ash came up on his right side, and he put his arm around her. "We did it. Or rather, you guys did it. I wasn't there for most of the journey." Ash laughed softly. "Well, you're here now, and that's all that matters.
Aria came up on his left side. "So, fearless leader, what's our next move?"
His face took on a thoughtful expression. "Honestly, I just want a bit of a break. I mean, I did kinda die, I think I may have earned one." They all laughed together, Matt somehow managing to lighten the mood even now. "And then…" he paused, and then his brows furrowed in determination, a look of adventure set on his face.
"And then, I'd say we continue doing what we've been doing this whole time. Finding our way… searching for our destiny in these new lives of ours."
They all stood silent with that profound statement hanging in the air. Matt abruptly turned away from the hangar opening, and called out, "But first, I'm getting a drink. Who's with me?" Ash and Aria cheered back in response, and they all set off together not just as friends, but as family.