"We're coming up on it now!" The duo came to a stop in front of a small hill covered In foliage.

Flying out of his jacket, the ghost's shell split apart and a light blue light surrounds the ghost that pulses before reforming, flying back over to the man "Looks pretty overgrown, might need to burn away some of the vines before we can get to the door."

"What do you mean burn away? I didn't exactly pack any matches before we left little light" he chuckled lightly trying to make light of the situation.

"What? No! Ugh the light!" The ghost sighs in exasperation as its spikes surrounding the core spin and float about before coming to rest.

"Didn't pack a flashlight either!" He chuckles heartily remembering just hours ago what he called his ghost.

"If I wasn't your ghost I'd strangle you myself you know. You're lucky I can take care of it while you just sit back!" She huffs before floating to a darker patch of dirt and shoots out a cone of light blue static?

"Whoa! Now that's a nice pile of free dirt!" The man exclaims loudly as a large pile of dirt and foliage appear off to his right. Ahead of him where the dirt was revealed a bunker door with a black rectangle on the front.

"You know, you're lucky you don't have any weapons or armor in storage or I wouldn't have been able to move that all at once" saying lazily as if her mind was somewhere else.

The ghost floated up to the black shape, shooting a beam of baby blue light into it "This is definitely guardian tech. Not golden age for sure. Nice of them though, it recognized I was a ghost and unlocked!"

"Convenient….I think, I think I remember this place. From my memory I mean" the ghosts optic whipped to the man, watching him. He had his brows furrowed in thought, staring at the familiar door with a far away look in his eyes.

She flew into his chest, once again jolting him back to the present. Pulling an arm from his jacket pocket, he pats the ghost pressing herself against him "Oh hun, I didn't even think about that, I'm so sorry, are you okay to look inside?"

"I think so….we need a way to protect ourselves anyways right? No other path forward but the door in front of us" with the ghost in hand he reaches for the circular handle and twists it with ease, pulling it open slowly on silent hinges.

Gazing inside, there isn't much in the bunker. An anvil with a large hammer indent into it, and a large rectangle box above it with writing. Other than that the room was barren.

"Huh, would have thought this woulda been bigger, only the size of a bedroom, if even that." As the man observes the room, his ghost flys to the anvil, scanning it before turning to the inscription on the case hanging from the wall.

"This is written in English, a bit cryptic for my tastes" she says as she reads it aloud for him to hear

Forge your hammer with the heart of your Sol.

Let it bring hope and triumph to allies whose gaze fell upon it.

Let it burn away evil and deny them their very being by feeling the wrath of undying suns.

For it is the will of the Traveler and Sunbreakers immemorial to break our enemies before they break us.

Break me and Find us.

"Well that's not cryptic at all." the man hums, now standing in front of the anvil "Did they mean Soul? They should really spell check 'fore stickin their work about"

"No hun, they mean Sol. Fire brought forth by the light of the Traveler. Most guardians being Sol forth by emotions, they seem to make the fire burn the brightest." The ghost trails off towards the end staring at the hammer indent upon the anvil.

She snaps her gaze back to the man "Maybe….maybe try bringing up that memory, your last one, I mean. I…I know I feel terrible to tell you to try and remember but, I think it stuck with you for a reason. This might just be it"

A sigh escapes the man's lips as he nods mutely. Closing his eyes, he places his hands on each side of the anvil with the hammer indent between them. Beginning to try and remember….

Anger.

He remembers anger, anger that the Day of Arrival was ruined and billions dead because some force beyond imagination deemed it so. Within days civilization was ruined, probably irrevocably but it's the nature of humans to rise to the challenge.

As if that challenge wasn't enough, damned 4 armed aliens came to pillage what remained. That's what he and his family had been running from, he was just as much a whiz with tech as well as handling work around the house and land.

Which is why he was able to find a bunker, open it and get his family In there. His Ma wasn't too happy with it and noticed off that bat as soon as she realized he was the last to enter but didn't. Shutting the door on her before she could convince him to get inside.

Sorry Ma, I hope you'll forgive me for slamming the door on ya. I know you used to scold me as a kid when I'd do it.

He ran.

Fast and loudly as he could. He needed to lead the damn bastards away before they catch up and realize it's only one they're chasing. Running besides him was his friend, someone he saw as a brother. Sasha.

A red wolf he found as a cub, abandoned by her pack at birth for some reason. He could never figure out why or where they went, no thanks to his tracking and wilderness skills, thank you very much.

He shakes his head, shaking the conwebs from his mind. Almost instantly in a panic he stops, looking around for another way but none looks very inviting. Mostly due to the fact he's surrounded by these alien bastards in a clearing with nothing but a tree in the center for what can barely even pass for cover.

Cursing his luck for being caught so quickly. He whips out his family heirloom, an old Ruger P89, placing his other hand on his companion comfortingly in what might as well be the last time.

"Let's give them hell girly"

It wasn't meant to be though. The duo sure gave them hell but there was no way he was making it out of this. Not alive at least…

Early on in the fight, one of them got a lucky shot with their stupid electrified glaves. So here he sits, back against the tree, missing his right arm, bloody, beaten….dying.

His friend standing faithfully above him growing and snapping at the bastards surrounding him. She was just as bloody and burned as he was, but with him till then end even though she could have easily ran off and lived.

"Guess this is it huh?" Coughing loudly, blood splattering on the back of his friend, feeling weaker by the second. "Traveler, damn them…"

Last sound he heard was an electric hiss of their blades and…

Darkness

"Gua…ap…ou...it!…Guardian! Come back to me please!"

Coming back to himself and out of the depths of his mind. He feels something pressing against his chest, something warm, like the embrace of his friend.

"Sasha?" Groggily opening his eyes before instantly shutting them, temporarily blinded by the light coming from the anvil. He rips his hands off rubbing his eyes as if it would help after being assaulted.

"You're awake! Thank the Traveler, I thought you would sooner melt the place before waking up!" A voice came from his chest where the pressure against him was.

Taking his hands off his eyes, he slowly opened them, taking stock of the situation. The concrete around him seemed to be singed and covered with black soot. There resting on the perfect anvil, was the most beautiful piece of work he ever laid his eyes on.

It was a hammer about a foot and a half in length, molten gold like it just popped out of the coals of a forge. The wrapping winding around the handle seemed to dance across the length just under a masterpiece of work.

One side was a wolf, its face snarling as though facing an insurmountable foe. The other, a flat side for of course hammer things, but the edges of the flat side were designed like the trunk of a tree. Leaves spanning above the wolf and offering shade while the roots meet the wrappings of the hammer in the middle.

All of the masterpieces come together to tell a story of a wolf facing its foe, fighting with its back against a tree without fear.

Reaching his right hand forward, his other cupped against his ghost, grasped the hilt of the hammer.

Gasping loudly, a feeling of warmth, of happiness, like a good night's rest. Went coursing through his body, like a flame that refused to be snuffed out.

Finally the euphoria passed and he started coming back to himself once again only to be face to face with his ghost.

"Will you stop zoning out on me dammit! I want to find out what's in the box and you're the one with the hammer!" She said heatedly, bringing a sheepish smile to his face

"I'd say I'm sorry but then I'd be lying. I remember my end, my companions end, together till the end" looking down at the hammer sitting in his hand, staring at the wolf that looks remarkably like her. "You don't have a name do you? If you did I never caught it"

His ghost flew back as if from whiplash from the topic change "Well…I did like the name you called out when I tried to rouse you. Who did it belong to?"

Tearing his eyes away from the wolf on his hammer, he looked at his new one. The one who brought him back, licked his wounds like she used back then while out hunting. Hunting? Was I a hunter?

Almost as quickly as the thought came, the memory slipped out of his mind like a slippery fish in a murky pond. Shaking his head once more he looked at his light.

"It belonged to a friend, a wolf, she was my best friend for years before the collapse. Raised her from a pup when she was abandoned in the wilderness...I think…I think I'd like you to bear her name, if you will have it" he smiled goofily as though lost in his mind once again.

"I would be honored! It's a beautiful name for a beautiful ghost such as myself." The ghost bobs in the air as its fins twirl around in happiness? Excitement?

"Now hurry up and break the box! I'm excited to see what's inside! The order of the sunbreakers always leave gifts for worthy guardians who find them. As rare as they are" Sasha flies away from his face looking at the box and turning back at him as though to say hurry up!

Rolling his eyes with a grin he tosses the hammer up and down in his hand, getting a feel for it. Without warning he strikes the box with the wolf end of his hammer. Looking to shatter the marble looking box in one strike.

Unexpectedly the box didn't shatter, it made a hissing sound and started burning? Crumbling slowly to pieces that flaked off and flew off with an unfelt wind through the bunker.

A couple seconds pass before a golden light peeks through the burned bits of the box. A golden hedron falls to the floor with a 'clink'. Staring at it for a moment, the man's stuck between bewilderment and amazement, not even realizing his hammer disappearing.

Sasha shoots down and scans the thing with a beam of her light. It disappeared in motes of light moments after. At the same time, his head felt a bit heavier? Crammed?

"Now that's a weird feeling, what did that golden thing do?" He looks at the spot in puzzlement not sure what to think, his mind feeling muddled.

"Oh! I should have warned you, I'm so sorry! Well a nice part about waking up with no memories means I can store things in data form inside your head. I won't compromise any memories that have a chance to surface so don't worry about that too much, but not much was salvageable."

She trails off towards the end as the man's brows furrow at the thought of parts of who he is never surfacing.

"Good news though!" Sasha perks up pulling his attention from his thoughts once again "hold out your hand, I've got a surprise for you!"

He smiles, thankful for his ghost pulling him out from himself just when he needs it. Holding out his right hand, not really sure what to expect.

Warmth! Hot though, like something poised to flair and attack at a moment's notice. Looking down at his hand and away from his ghost, he finds a beautiful gun in his grasp. White flair at the bottom and gold plated handcannon. The gold across the barrel is singed, but not warped like a metal should be when it's been reheated too many times.

"It is rather beautiful, not as beautiful as my hammer but a work of art still." He holds it now with both hands, tracing over the grooves of the cannon, feeling the dangerous heat at his fingertips but not being burned.

"Record from the decoding calls it the Sunshot. Decoding also gave us a decent amount of glimmer that I can make some armor from! The anvil as well, I can shape into a conduit for your Sol" Sasha twirls looking at the anvil and back to him as if waiting for an answer.

"Seems not right using what I forged my light from into armor, what if someone else stumbles upon it?" He runs his hand across the anvil, now a warm feeling coming from it.

"I would be inclined to agree if it wasn't now attuned to your light. Plus you kinda destroyed the instructions on how to use it" she stated with obvious mirth dropping from her voice.

Rolling his eyes with a soft smile, he nods "what can you make from it?" The man kneels down, looking over the anvil that's now warm to the touch. Searching for, well, he's not sure but hoping to find something.

"Hm oddly enough the engram had an armor pattern also included in it along with the materials needed. One of the crafting materials listed that's not here is a 'light attuned artifact' which I'm assuming is our anvil here" Sasha spins once before shooting a light at the anvil as it disappears in motes of light.

Once again his head feeling odd but quickly getting used to it "Eagh, I hope I'll get over that feeling sooner rather than later" shaking his head the man gathers his bearings and stands back up looking at his ghost. "What exactly can ya make from it?"

Not replying to him, Sasha flies around the man, scanning his lower body a few times while twirling. Breaking the silence looking at him, offering a reply finally "I think you'll like them, prepare to reach for the sky!"

With a flourish and his ghost splitting up, being surrounded by blue light, armor starts to materialize around the legs first then slowly other parts of his body armor start to appear.

Not moving the muscle, terrified as the man was, he waits for his ghost to finish what she's doing. A few minutes pass like this, the armor he's being fitted with, tightening in some places, loosening in others, until Sasha comes back together and looks at him proudly.

"Tada! What do you think!" Looking down at himself with a sigh of relief. Finding himself wearing a woodland camo themed armor. His chest chock full of pouches and two grenades on his left side. His shoulders also had new pieces.

His left shoulder had a solid plate of metal extending up to his head, not being able to see over, assuming to block gun fire to the head, also with supplies strapped onto it with a net. On his right, a wolf, a red wolf snarling at an unseen foe with chainmail covering under the shoulder. All painted in forest camo except for the wolf, a carbon fiber look to it "Sasha…"

"I thought I'd take the liberty of pulling inspiration from your hammer, she must have meant a lot to you. I hope you don't mind…" sounding embarrassed or sheepish about it.

"No…no it's perfect, I love it. She was with me till the end, she deserves to go with me into the new world" smiling softly and his eyes slightly moist, he rubs the top of his ghost in appreciation before taking stock of the rest of himself.

His waist was bare of even a belt, but his legs had an intense look to them. Just above his heels were fins with rockets on either side of the fins. Sides of his legs had similar but smaller ports, probably for more directional changes mid air.

"Are….are these rockets strapped to my legs?" Taking a step forward, the armor was comfortable, barely noticeable if he was completely honest with himself. Almost like a second skin.

"Yes! The pattern here calls them Lions Rampant. Information on them just says 'Grow powerful. Carve pathways through the unknown sky, o defender!' pretty inspirational if I do say so myself." Sasha flies around the man once more scanning and beaming the legs a few times.

"I also took the liberty of making a spot for me to hide in your armor…I…I don't want to go to the space…" trailing off towards the end, Sasha shrinks into herself, looking far off.

"Hey hey, I won't force you to go anywhere. What space are you talking about?" His hands cup his ghost once more, pulling her to his chest and looking down at her.

"It's…it's the space ghosts go to, to stay safe out in the field. But, it sounds terrifying! Just imagine if your body disappears but your mind remains, you can't move or do anything but look out the eyes of someone else! It…it scares me" Sasha pulses in his hand, looking back up at him as a warmth fills his chest.

"It's okay, that's why you designed a spot for you to hide, right? Show me where it's at." Lazily she floats up and disappears in front of him, the man looks around in worry "Hey! I thought you said you didn't want to go in the space?"

"I'm not! I'm right here!" Sasha's voice comes out from his right side, looking over but not seeing her his brows furrowed in confusion "me and your wolf are one! I added a space inside Sasha that I fit snugly into!"

Looking closer at his shoulder pad, he sees now his wolf's eyes are glowing the same color blue as Sasha's optic "That's awesome! Poetic and functional, now we're in high cotton!" Laughing heartily, he turns to the door as he feels something materialize over his head. A solid white bar appeared at the top of his vision, and something appeared on the small of his back.

"Here's your helmet and your Sunshot, we have a ways to travel before we can get to the last city. I've sent out a distress signal tuned to broadcasting on guardian frequencies that we could use a lift." Sasha states as the man looks at the door.

"I guess no way ahead but forward" he smiles under his helmet as they leave the burned bunker behind.