Chapter 3: Getting Equipped
"Clea, time to wake up" Polari said as quietly as she could over internal coms, doing her best to gently wake up her guardian.
Clea's eyes slowly opened, and she took a look around her new room as her memories of yesterday came back to her.
After her talk with the Speaker, the female warlock from Fireteam Cobalt guided her to her new room; it was a small, one-bedroom on the lower levels of the tower with a bathroom and a desk. This was the standard living quarters for all Guardians, though the warlock, whose name was apparently Bela, said that more experienced guardians could eventually pay for a personalized living space.
Clea was wearing a simple black top and blue pants, an outfit that was on her bed when she arrived.
As Clea took some stretches to wake up, Polari remained dematerialized, not wanting to rush her guardian.
Clea then pressed a button on the window seal to un-darken her window, and once again, the rising sun blinded her.
Polari materialized and bumped up against the button to darken the window again. As Clea rubbed her eyes, she said, "how do other people stand that light…."
"Awoken that are born on Earth don't have much trouble, but reborn guardians aren't adapted as well, give it time," Polari assured her.
"Right, about Awoken, why do we look like humans with blue skin.." Clea asked.
"Again, that's a long story…but um…oh forget it, I'll just tell you now," Polari stammered as Clea went to her bathroom and splashed some water in her eyes.
"During the collapse, there was a colony ship called the Yang Liwei that tried to flee Earth. When the Traveler was fighting the darkness, the energy from the clash created a singularity, a vortex that sucked the Yang Liwei in. Within the vortex was a massive swirl of energy that destroyed everything physical…however, a few members of the crew's consciousness survived and found a way to reform their bodies from the energy within the vortex, and then used the energy to create an entire world. Those who reformed their bodies were the very first Awoken. Awoken are biologically equipped for living in places with no natural sunlight light, so they have excellent night vision, but also are very sensitive to bright lights." Polari finished.
"That explains why my eyes hurt…so why are some Awoken here on earth?" Clea questioned, as she had noticed some Awoken staffing the vendor stalls in the tower.
"Eventually, some Awoken left their new world and returned to the Solar System; some took up residence in The Reef, a debris field of ships and rocks that they formed into a massive city; others came back to help humanity recover. Most Awoken Guardians were civilians who died during the earliest days of the city. However, Commander Zavala's ghost revived him in a crashed Awoken ship from the Dark Ages, the time between the Collapse and the founding of the small camp that grew into the last city. Anyone who dies can theorectily become a guardian, regradless of how long ago they died, in fact you were probably weren't even born when I came online, but your soul's light was the perfect match for my light " Polari finished, the pride in her voice still apparent.
Clea nodded and smiled, but then another thought came to her, "I wonder how I ended up on Europa…."
"My best guess is you were a pilot in the Reef wars since the ship I found you in looked like a fighter…or at least what little was left of it" Polari guessed.
Clea gave her ghost a look and asked, "what were the reef wars? Do you think there's any way I could find out more about my past life?"
Polari rapidly flew back at her question, particularly the second one, before regaining her composure and said, "the reef wars were a few centuries ago, when the fallen, the aliens you met on Europa, tried to overthrow the Queen of the Reef. Guardians are forbidden from researching their past, though…."
Clea gave a suspicious look and asked, "why exactly?"
Polari sighed and said, "i shouldn't have brought it up, and while it's not a written rule, it's more of an unspoken taboo since guardians who have tried to research their past often abandoned their duties to the city, and some were driven mad by endlessly searching,"
Clea nodded and said, "It makes sense; I have my first lesson with Ikora soon, right?"
"Yes, but it's not till this evening, but a more experienced guardian will be conducting your orientation, so you should probably wash up," Polari suggested.
"Orientation?" Clea inquired.
Polari then projected a hologram, showing a three-dimensional map of the city, saying, "The tower alone has 200 floors and the Last City is over 600 square miles with a population of 15 million people; orientation will show you the most important parts of both the tower in the city, since trying to learn and see everything on your own would take months at least. The guardian guiding you will l tell you everything you need to know about what is available in the tower and the various amenities in the last city that guardians need to be familiar with."
Clea's eyes bludged, causing Polari to turn away and say "sorry, i didn't mean to overwhelm you…I've waited so long to find my guardian, and Im so excited for you to see things.."
Clea gave her ghost a smile and said "it's ok, before going to her bathroom and closing the door. After about ten minutes, she finished her shower and got dressed.
As Clea's hand moved to the doorknob, she remembered her armor, but before she could try to put it on, Polari simply teleported it on to her.
"I've got you covered!" Polari assured her, before vanishing.
As Clea exited her room, Bela passed by and said "oh, I thought you were going to sleep in"
A package of clothes appeared in Bela's hands via her ghost, saying "this is the starting warlock outfit, might want to wear these instead of the armor you arrived in.."
"Thanks, why are you helping me so much?" Clea questioned.
Bela chuckled and said, "I was a new guardian once too, and I volunteered to be your mentor and take you through orientation. Ikora will teach you how to use our powers, while I teach the practicalities of being a guardian"
"Oh…thank you" Clea said, caught off guard before ducking back into her room and setting the new outfit on her bed.
Polar appeared again asking "want me to put it on for you?"
"no, I'll do it, but this isn't very heavy armor," Clea admitted, thinking back to the blast that had torn through her chestplate on Europa.
"Oh but that's where your wrong! This a warlock trenchcoat, which is made from light-infused fabric; not only is it just as tough as metal armor but it's designed so that forming a shield over it is easier.
"Oh…speaking of light, where do you go when you vanish?" Clea questioned; it was only now she realized her ghost wasn't always floating around her.
Polari's eye widened as she said, "oh darn, I forgot to explain that…basically, I dissolve into light, the energy guardians utilize, and go inside you; think of me as just a ball of energy hiding in your body."
Clea nodded and took off her white armor, putting on her grey pants with armored kneepads, and her grey undershirt that included a light armor plate over her chest. Though it was lighter than her armor from Europa, the metal was textured differently and clearly of much higher quality.
Finally, she put on her warlock trenchcoat, which was a dark purple and had pockets on the side, along with a holster on the inside for a gun.
Clea then put on her new boots and exited her room where Bela was waiting, but then it crossed her mind that she was lacking the one thing everyone in the fireteam had worn, a helmet.
Bela smiled and said, "now you look like a warlock; come on, let's pick out a helmet and some weapons."
Clea nodded and followed Bela to an elevator; afterward, they headed up to the armory floor of the tower. The massive room was filled with various weapons, armor pieces, cloaks, and trench coats. Armor was organized by pieces on the massive isle in the center, while gun racks filled with weapons covered the walls, and the whole room was illuminated by bright lights.
"Where do I pick from?" Clea questioned.
"Anywhere, most Guardians end up taking apart weapons and using their parts to make their own weapons; others donate their weapons to the armory here."
Clea decided to get a helmet first, looking over her options on the racks in the center of the massive room before finding one that caught her eye. It was purple on the back and on the sides to match her coat, but more importantly, it had a large black v-shaped visor that comprised nearly all of the frontal area.
Clear tried the helmet on; it was a firm fit, but not overly tight, and the visor was tinted though it wasn't enough to dull the lights in the room.
"This is a great helmet because I can do this" Polari said before the visor became darker until the lights were barely bright when staring at them directly.
Clea then looked around the room, which was now almost pitch black, as she said, "a little less."
Polari then adjusted the visor again until it was the perfect balance of light and dark. Clea then took off the helmet and said, "this one."
The helmet then dissolved into light before vanishing as Polari said "ghosts can store items for their guardians. Putting helmets on is hard, though since it's hard to form around someone's facial features. I can store them for you, along with glimmer, though most guardians use their vault for glimmer and extra weapons."
"Glimmer?" Clea questioned.
"Oh right…sorry, glimmer is the currency of the last city. It's a programmable matter which can be transmuted into nearly anything. New Glimmer comes from reclaimed Golden Age caches and technology - whether a tiny mechanism or an underground lode seeded by ancient machines. Glimmer isn't hard to find, but Glimmer is also constantly used by the City in all aspects of industry since it can make necessary components and materials for almost anything. So much is used every day that Glimmer is scarce and, therefore, valuable. Ghosts use glimmer to make ammunition at almost any time, so guardians need a lot of it, or they can purchase an ammo fabricator which is much more efficient than using raw glimmer" Polari finished.
Next, she went to the gun racks that covered the walls before asking, "Any recommendations?"
"You want a varied loadout, I'd recommend a pulse rifle as your main weapon, a shotgun for close range, and a rocket launcher for heavy-duty jobs" Polari explained.
Clea shook her head and said, "I don't even know where to begin; you pick"
Polari materialized and emitted a blue beam from her eye, searching and searching until she found her three weapons of choice.
First, Polari directed Clea to the Nightshade, a purple and black, pulse rifle with a shoulder strap that Clea put over her right shoulder. Next, Polari chose a sleek, black shotgun with a flashlight on the bottom of the barrel, the Seventh Seraph CQC-12, which fit perfectly in the trenchcoat's holster. Finally, Polari looked at the rack of heavy weapons and let out an audible gasp, saying, "how on earth did this get here."
Blea then noticed her surprise and said, "That belonged to Cassie, but she traded some other weapons for a Dragon's breath and decided it wasn't worth dismantling."
"Is that a good one?" Clea questioned, seeing the red rocket launcher that almost resembled a ship's engine.
"This is a hothead, one of the best rocket launchers ever made. Only about 500 were made, and they haven't been produced in almost two decades, but they're the best in terms of accuracy and a close second in terms of the blast radius and impact damage. Dragon's breath is one of the rarer upgraded versions with rockets that leave behind extra flames," Polari explained as the rocket launcher de-materialized into her storage, and Polari dissolved soon after.
"What's the best rocket launcher?" Clea questioned further.
Bela chuckled and said, "the Gjallarhorn, personally crafted by Feizel Crux, a legendary gunsmith who passed away 30 years ago. Only 20 were made; Ikora has two of them, one from her mentor and her own. Zavalla has one, so does Cayde, and only a select few of the oldest guardians like Lord Shax and Lord Saladin."
Clea gave a confused look and asked, "what did you have to do to get one?"
"You had to have fought at the battle of twilight gap, which was over a century ago when the fallen united into one force; it was the closest the last city ever came to being overrun. Ikora, Zavala and Shaxx became famous for their actions in saving the city, and the Gjallarhorns were made from the armor of guardians who were killed. Cayde got his as a gift from the previous hunter vanguard who fought at Twilight gap." Bella admitted.
Clea gave a sigh and said, "there's a lot of history I need to catch up on…."
"Don't worry; I'll show you around the tower archives when we're on our own" Polari assured her as Clea followed Bela out of the armory.
After a tour of the plaza, Blea gave Clea a tour of the last city, showing her various shops and the subways used to get around. Eventually, it was time for lunch, and Bela knew the perfect place.
Antonio's was a small restaurant about ten miles from the tower. Bela explained that food here was from a country called Mexico.
"So there are countries outside of the last city?" Clea questioned.
Bella shook her head and said, "no, but some cultures weren't completely erased by the collapse, survivors over many generations did their best to keep any part of their cultures alive, and recipes survived through spoken words, mostly because food was something needed often."
Upon Bela's recommendation, Clea had some cheese dip and a burrito, both of which were excellent.
As Bela paid the waiter with some glimmer, Clea realized that her stomach didn't feel any different from before the meal, and asked, "Polari, why don't i feel full?"
"Oh, because your metabolism is different from any other awoken or human. When I resurrected you, your entire body was remade at the cellular level. The light is literally part of your DNA now. Guardians don't need to eat, drink, sleep, or even breath oxygen, as your new body's biological processes are bypassed by your light-altered organs. Even if I weren't constantly maintaining your light reserves, you'd be fine."
"Good to know, so on missions, food and water aren't needed" Clea surmised.
"Yes, but eating and sleeping help guardians relax, so most still do it. I'd recommended to eat and sleep once in a while though" Polari recommended.
"Why?" Clea asked.
"While you CAN ignore eating and sleeping, after a month or two, your mind will begin to get foggy; you'll experience paranoia, even hallucinations. The light can't regulate your emotions and thoughts as well, and not eating or sleeping for so long messes with your mental fortitude. It's still possible to overcome it, and experienced guardians can go three to five months before the effects become detrimental." Polari warned.
Afterward, Clea and Bela headed back to the tower, it was late in the afternoon, and her lesson with Ikora was about to begin…
Author's Note-jeez that was a mouthful...
1. this chapter was a LOT of exposition, but it was needed. Unfortunately, the next chapter will also be rather exposition-heavy, but not quite as much as this one
2. One thing that often never made sense in destiny was what does guardian training entail? It's a canon fact that guardians pick up how to fight and use guns and their powers almost like natural instincts, but what if they never had an opportunity to do so before arriving in the city? Ikora's teaching will get a guardian set up.
3. Ash's will be the most recurring character, but he won't be in every chapter.
4. this story will be fairly copied and pasted up to the black garden, but after that Clea will have to face what makes her unique even among other Awoken guardians. Keep a bookmark about Polari and Clea's talk at the beginning of this chapter, it WILL be important
Leave a review, and I'm interested if anyone will be able to guess the eventual twist before I reveal it...