Date: Unknown ( Day 1 )
Location: Prague, Old Czech Republic, European Dead Zone
Time: 17:23, UTC+2

Soap loads his RSASS rifle. It had taken the former Captain a little over an hour to find all the parts he needed to repair his rifle, due to the large presence of Fallen in the ancient city. But he had, and was now setting up a concealed campsite.
"Any Guardians nearby?" Soap asked his Ghost as he started setting up camp.

"Unfortunately, no. If there were, I would call them and ask for a lift to the City" the Ghost says, flitting around the camp. "Are you sure this is a good idea? There's still a lot of Fallen in the area, and I'm sure you wouldn't like waking up to the barrel of one of their Wire Rifles"

Soap sits down on the remains of a chair. "I'll take my chances. Better rested and awake than falling asleep at the scope, and besides, it's almost evening. If they're anything like Humankind, they'll need to eat and sleep too"
At that remark, Soap's stomach grumbled. "Which reminds me… "

"There is some small game nearby. Rabbits and squirrels, for the most part. Should be easy pickings with your pistol" the Ghost says, phasing away. "Oh. I'm still here. It's… complicated. I'm not sure how to explain it"

"There seems to be a lot of things you're not able to explain" Soap says, standing up.

"Yeah. Sagira could explain things a lot better than I can"

"Who's Sagira?" Soap asks

"She's the Ghost of a Guardian named Osiris. We were friends for a long time"

"That implies that something happened" Soap replies quietly, aiming at a large-ish rabbit.

"Yeah. Her Guardian, Osiris, got exiled. Long story"

Soap takes the shot. The rabbit falls, dead. Soap then collects the rabbit and starts making his way back to the campsite. "Think they heard that?" he asks his Ghost, as he starts skinning the rabbit. "No. Too many buildings. They might've heard it, but no way to pinpoint it" she replies, phasing out and flitting over to the small campfire Soap had built.

After a bit of work, Soap had cooked his rabbit, ate, and was now getting ready for the night. He pulls out his journal and starts writing up an entry. "Day one… " Soap thinks aloud, while writing in the leather-bound journal. "Day one of what?" his Ghost asks, flitting over.

Soap chuckles. "Day one of the rest of my life" he says, closing the journal.

[-]

Day 0, 2011
Location: SAS Training Compound, Credenhill, UK
Time: 06:30, GMT

The door to the hangar opens. Four people stand inside, one of them none other than Captain Price. Soap hears one of them say "It's the F.N.G. sir"

One of them looks over to the Captain and says "Go easy on him, sir. It's his first day out of selection"

Price nods and looks at Soap. "Right. What the hell kind of name is Soap, eh? How'd a muppet like you make it past selection?" he asks, looking curiously at the newest member of the 22nd regiment

[-]

Date: Unknown ( Day 2)
Location: Prague, Old Czech Republic, European Dead Zone
Time: 06:05, UTC+2

Soap wakes up with a start, shaking the sleep from his eyes. "Bad dreams?" his Ghost asks. Soap shakes his head. "Memories… I think. A man I recognized from my journal" Soap shakes his head. "Anyways. I'm up, so let's get going" he says, standing up, grabbing his RSASS and his M1911, and holstering them. "Do we really need to find a jumpship? Could we grab a car and drive to the Last City?"

The Ghost pulses her shell as she thinks. "I don't think so. Not many survived the Collapse, and the few that did got scavenged by all sorts of parties. Fallen, some of the City factions, et cetera, et cetera"

"So, in short, no" Soap says, rolling up his sleeping bag.

"Pretty much" the Ghost says, phasing out of view. "If we find a Sparrow, then that's another story. But I doubt we'll find one all the way out here"

Soap leaves the building and pulls out his M1911. "So why do you think we'll be able to find a jumpship all the way out here?"

"Harder to scavenge, for one, and more prominently used during the Golden Age. If we can find an old Cosmodrome, we should be able to find a jumpship"

Soap nods and starts making his way out of Prague. "So. What's happened since my death?"

Soap's Ghost materializes and flits around to his front. "There's a lot, so I'll start with the Golden Age. In the late 21st century, Humankind sent an expedition to Mars, where they discovered the Traveler. In the following years, lifespan tripled, technology advanced at an incredible pace, and Humankind settled the Solar System"

"That seems like a broad generalization" Soap says, stopping for a moment.

"It is. Ghosts like myself didn't exist before the Collapse, so I only have old Archive records to go off of"

Soap nods. "Alright. So, what was the Collapse?"

"The Collapse was the end of the Golden Age. The Traveler had a powerful enemy. We know it only as the Darkness. It swept through the system, crushing Humankind's defenses on each world until they reached Earth. As hope failed, and Darkness clouded the sky, the Traveler sacrificed itself, and defeated the Darkness. But it came at a cost"

"What was the cost?" Soap asks, looking down an alleyway

"The Traveler's sacrifice saved Humankind but left the Traveler itself… Asleep. Inert. Maybe dead. But at the same time, it created the Ghosts. Our charge – to seek out those worthy of wielding the Traveler's remnant Light, and empower them to protect Humankind"

"To be a Guardian" Soap finished. "Well, you certainly found an interesting charge"

Ghost's shell pulses, as if agreeing. "I would think so. After all, how many Guardians have a link to pre-Golden Age records?"

"So, what happened after the Collapse?" Soap asks, continuing his way out of Prague. "I'm guessing there's more that's happened"

Soap's Ghost blinks. "Yes. We started looking for those worthy souls. Either dead, or alive. Most found were dead, so the first name our charges were given was 'The Risen'. Some started claiming territory for themselves, others started wandering the lands. Eventually, two factions emerged – the Warlords, those who claimed territory and fought others for more territory, and the Iron Lords, who, by and large, sought to protect Humankind"

"Sounds bloody" Soap replies, carefully opening a door.

"It was. Some Warlords joined the Iron Lords, ceding their territory to the people living within their borders, but others fought. Eventually, the Iron Lords emerged victorious. But it took centuries before their victory, and there are those that would say that it wasn't really a victory, just an end to one faction"

Soap whistles. "What age are we in right now?" he asks, holstering his pistol as the outskirts of Prague present themselves, and readying his RSASS

"Ummm… last I heard; we are in the Age of Triumphs. A number of victories against the enemies of Humanity have occurred in the last few years, so the City is celebrating"

Soap nods. "Well, we got plenty of time to get caught up on history; gonna be a while before we set up camp, and we got a ways to go, apparently, so let's get started"