At first, he thought he'd gone deaf; slowly but surely, however, a ringing noise persisted and eventually broke through the bubble of silence that had coated his eardrums. He wished it hadn't.

He heard a few choked screams of pain, people calling out for help- but shockingly, it was quieter now in the station than it had been a few moments ago, and that did not bode well considering the circumstances. The quiet meant that people who would otherwise also be screaming or crying for help had been silenced, their voices never to be heard again.

The hazy smoke impaired vision beyond a few meters, just as oppressive as the death and carnage around them. Grunting, he dizzily tried to force himself up onto all fours.

Where was she? He had to find her.

As he watched, movement broke through the clouds of dust and powder. It was an IMC soldier, staggering around as she tried to overcome the vertigo she was certainly feeling after the shockwave of the blast. He waved to her, hoping to grab her attention.

Noticing his small arm motion, she dropped to a knee next to him and asked, "Are you alright?" Her voice sounded distant and faint, but at least he was able to hear her. Shakily, he nodded his head once.

"Okay kid," she said, "just hang tight- I'm going to-"

He never found out what she was going to do as a burst of gunfire emanated from behind her, and tore through her chest. There was no cry of pain or guttural scream; she simply fell over as silently as most of the station had become. In terror, he looked toward her attackers to see a trio of three soldiers dressed in olive drab equipment, one of which held a rifle towards him.

They approached him as he laid there frozen, looking between him and the fallen IMC woman. The one in front continued to hold the rifle at him, time seemingly paused as he decided whether or not to shoot him.

Finally, one of the ones to the side placed their hand on the top of the barrel, forcing the leader to lower the gun. With a grunt, they moved on and continued to search out whatever target they were seeking.

Had they gotten to her too?

Forcing himself to move, he left the dead soldier behind and crawled along the ground slowly, partly due to pain and partly due to the sheer fright he felt at the risk of standing up and being shot. As he crawled, the screams of the damned accompanying him, he passed by many others lying upon the ground who had not been so fortunate. Blown off limbs, bodies with shrapnel piercing their abdomen, a man with half his head cleaved clean off by a chunk of rock.

Suddenly, his heart dropped. Just ahead of him was an immobile form, one which belonged to a familiar woman wearing her standard boots and colonial clothes. Hurriedly, he dragged himself over to her, tears already beginning to form as he refused to accept the truth right in front of him.

Reaching her, he shook her shoulder but received no response. Getting into position and reaching his arms under her, he lifted her up into a cradling position, whimpering softly as he looked at her glossy eyes and vacant expression, a thin stream of blood dripping from her nose and hinting at the carnage that must have been present within her skull.

He didn't know how long he sat like that, crying over her body before he was discovered and taken to shelter. Later, he'd learn that it was a surprise terrorist attack on the tram station that had taken his mother's life. The Militia had claimed responsibility, declaring that their target had been a high ranking IMC official who had been present in the station at the time, and any other dead were simply unfortunate collateral damage.

Collateral damage. That's all they considered his mother, and the many dead and wounded alongside her, to be. As though they hadn't been the ones to pull the trigger.

They'd done nothing short of murder her.

In the future, he would uphold his vow to fight for peace. He would enlist in the IMC, train first as a Rifleman, then a Pilot once he was recommended for the position. He would go on to save his own skin first, losing his way and sight of the promise he'd made so long ago, letting luck decide his fate.

But it wouldn't be until Nedar that he would finally see once more the oath he'd taken; one of peace, and selflessness … even sacrifice. It wouldn't be until he formed a bond with a particular Ion Titan that he would change and mold his perspective of the world around her, letting go of the hate that had blinded him for so long.

That would be then. For now, there was time to mourn the loss of the woman who'd taught him how the world worked, and encouraged him to shape it rather than letting it shape him.

The hot water felt good against his skin; running down and swirling into the drain, he felt like he was washing the very stress and tension in his muscles away. Allowing himself a moment of relaxation after however many weeks of fear was just as much a mental cleansing as it was a physical one.

"You didn't fall in, did you?"

The feminine voice outside the shower jolted him out of his dreamy stupor, and he turned towards the door. "I think I've earned a bit of a respite, don't you think?"

"Far more than that. I take it that you're finding the shower enjoyable?"

Reaching his hands up to rub the base of his scalp, he closed his eyes. "Very."

Kay didn't continue the conversation, and finally he decided to reach over and shut off the water. Stepping out of the glass door, he grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his waist, and walked over to the sink with a wet slap following each footstep.

He stared into the mirror at the man who glowered back at him; disheveled, long haired, and an unkempt beard sitting plainly upon their face. He hadn't seen himself in a while, he barely recognized his reflection now.

It was funny- he'd never really taken the time to look at the various scars that had found a home on his face over the years. Pulling aside the strands of hair that dangled over his eyes, he saw a thin line in his left brow that he'd gotten from fighting Dimitri on Erebus, when the mercenary had slammed his face onto a console and shattered his helmet. Stretching from the edge of his right eye was a lengthy scar curving down a few inches that he'd sustained during the Amalgamation event. And that wasn't even talking about the many other battle marks that adorned the rest of his body, some from war, many from torture.

Grabbing a pair of scissors off to the side, he set to work.

Seven years. Seven years since he'd met KT and begun this endless cycle of standing against a seemingly unstoppable foe. In that time, he'd lost fingers, friends, his sanity, and nearly his life. Looking down at the nubs on his left hand, they were the most blatant reminder of the more horrible things he'd endured throughout the years.

And yet … he felt more whole than ever.

With a snip, a clump of hair fell into the sink.

As he cut, he thought back to what his mother had taught him all those years ago; that a person can truly be judged by their actions. She'd encouraged him to do the right thing, even in the face of oppressive opposition. The story of the Knight and the Kingdom had been ingrained into his mind since he was a kid, and he remembered vividly how his mother had described the unfairness of it all; the lone warrior, abandoned and shunned by his people, returning to save the day and bring tranquility back to the fallen kingdom.

He'd taken it to mean that he should fight for peace … but now, he wasn't so sure.

Before Spyglass took over, there was no peace. It was just a constant battle for survival among the frontier; the Remnant IMC forces trying to maintain influence despite the loss of Demeter, and the Militia struggling to retake their home. But then the AI had come and imposed a standstill, split apart the bonds between Pilots and Titans, and turned life on the frontier into a shell of its former shell. It was peace- but at what cost?

Finished with the top of his head, he maneuvered his hand towards his face and chin.

After her death, he'd blamed the war on the Militia. He claimed that he'd wanted peace, but he'd really wanted revenge. He acted selfishly, looking out only for himself. He wanted to watch as the ones who killed his mother were forced into submission by the righteous. And all the while, he'd upheld that parable as his motivation when he hadn't even understood it properly.

The story of the Knight and the Kingdom wasn't about fighting for peace, it wasn't even about just doing the right thing. It was about doing what needed to be done … even when it's the most difficult thing for one to do.

The Knight had known he was going to die. And perhaps the people of the kingdom didn't even deserve his help. But he'd also known that without him, they would all perish. And so he'd placed their lives above his own and willingly sacrificed himself to ensure that they lived. Even when he was no longer their Knight … he still felt that he was their guardian.

He understood now. None of the last seven years had been about making peace, it had been about protecting those who couldn't protect themselves. He'd let himself be captured by the IMC at Erebus to help the Militia find the Ark, he'd embarked on a journey to stop the Amalgamation and nearly given his life in the process, and now he was trying to help lead a resistance against the very epitome of tyranny.

Peace was not an option … but that was okay.

When New Humanity came into being, he'd gone back to his old ways. He'd taken Kay and run away, looking out only for the two of them. He'd forsaken the rest of humanity, believing only himself and her to matter. And she'd recognized that it was wrong to think like that, even if he hadn't.

Never again. It was clear to him now; he was the knight. He was a protector, and his duty was to defend those who couldn't defend themselves. He'd done it by letting go of his hate for the Militia when he joined them, realizing that this war wasn't black and white. And he was going to do it again now.

No matter the cost.

Finally, he was done. Setting aside the scissor, he gazed into the mirror at the new reflection which awaited him; trimmed stubble and shorter hair. Uneven in a few places … but he was content to finally wear a face that he could recognize as his own again.

Just as he was happy to finally have found his purpose once more.

…

The bathroom door finally opened, and Kay turned her optics towards the sound. "It's about time; I was about to come in and drag you out myself."

"That would have been a sight to see," he chuckled, stepping into view. She immediately noticed the trim he'd given to both his hair and beard. She hadn't seen him this clean-cut since before Spyglass had taken over, and she certainly wasn't complaining.

"You look nice," she stated simply.

"Thanks," he replied, "I think I was a bit overdue, but better late than never."

Standing up from the chair she was sitting on, she walked several paces over to him and spoke in a low, sultry tone. "While I do agree that you were in dire need of a grooming, I know you well enough to guess that you didn't just choose this hotel for a shower and haircut … did you?"

He smirked. "No, you're right. I had a few other priorities in mind." Turning away, he walked towards the bed.

Inside, she felt herself get a bit excited at the thought. She knew well enough about human society to understand what it usually meant when a couple checked into a hotel alone. Slowly, she began to undress. While this would certainly be … unique, and possibly awkward at first, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't enthusiastic at the thought of finally getting to this point after so many years-

"C'mon, let's get back to that storage cubicle and grab my gear. We're going to need it for what comes next."

Pulling on his sweatshirt that he'd set aside on the bed, he turned to look at her and froze at the sight of her frantically zipping her padded jacket back up. Hastily, she clasped her hands together. "Right, gear. Of course!"

He raised an eyebrow, clueless to her odd behavior. "Uh … is there something on your mind-?"

"Nope, nothing at all!" she trilled. "So, um … gear! Let's go grab that gear."

Thankfully, he didn't press the issue and gestured for her to follow him out the door of their room. As they walked down the hallway, she looked at him. "So, I'm assuming that if we need your gear that we're about to do something dangerous?"

"You'd assume correctly," he muttered, trying to keep his voice low as they wandered around the building. "And probably really stupid, too."

"Oh please," she chuckled, "it can't be that stupid."

…

"Okay, I take it back. This is unequivocally stupid."

He didn't look at her as he analyzed the grappling device on his armor, making sure it was in working order. "Well, it's just about the only option we have. Now that you're AWOL from New Humanity, it's not like you can just waltz into the place without alerting someone-"

"I know, but this-" She peered out over the edge of the roof at their target. "We've done a lot of crazy things, but this is about to top the list."

They stood upon the roof of the hotel, the tallest of the nearby buildings to the private research skyscraper. They needed entry into the building to reach Al'cor, and this was what Tobias had come up with. To say that she was not happy about the idea was an understatement.

"Hey," he said, looking at her directly. "We've got this. Don't worry."

The more he told her not to worry, the less it seemed to be effective. How many different things could go wrong with this plan? He'd only just listed the basics of the plan, and she was already worried beyond belief. She felt it inside, like a slight buzzing that … she was starting to feel a bit dizzy, and … and …

Immediately, the feeling went away, and she snapped her gaze around in confusion. Had that really just happened? It had never happened so quickly before, and not without one of her spasms. It had just felt … natural. Almost like she'd willed it to happen.

He noticed her sudden movement, and glanced at her curiously. "You alright?"

"I just switched fragments," she said in awe. Looking at him, she noticed he'd taken a hesitant step back at the declaration.

Realizing his fear, she held her hands up immediately. "It's alright, it's alright! I'm fine, really. It's just- it's never happened like that before, so peacefully and calm. You've seen for yourself, usually it's far more violent a transition."

He looked her up and down. "I'm assuming that this isn't Artemis; which persona are you now?"

"Virtus," she muttered, "I- the one Spyglass called 'Virtus' is in control."

"And that's one of the good ones, right?" Tobias clarified.

"If you're asking whether it's one of the three that Spyglass considered useless, then yes."

"Good enough for me," he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. He looked at their target one more time before returning his gaze to her. "I know you're not a fan of this plan, but-"

"Not a fan?" she cut him off. "It may be stupid, but that's a category where you and I seem to consistently exceed expectations for success." Walking over to the antennae he'd pointed out to her earlier, she crossed her arms. "Now, are you ready to kick some ass or what?"

He wore an expression of complete disbelief before sighing and pulling on his helmet. "Artemis, a chaotic thought without restraint. Pietas, a softer-sided romantic. And now, Virtus … an adrenaline-crazed daredevil. This is, uh … it's starting to give me a headache."

"Less talking, more ass-kicking," she replied, brushing aside his observations. Whatever Virtus was, she certainly seemed like she'd be an asset on the mission. Shrugging, he joined her at the antennae and outstretched his arm.

With a burst of motion, the grappling hook shot out over the gap between buildings. They watched as it began to arc downward, finally taking root with a twang by smashing through a window. He hoped that nobody investigated the noise of broken glass immediately. Pulling on it with his weight to test its solidity, he nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, showtime."

Wrapping the cable nearest his hand around the antenna once, he walked back towards the edge. What he'd just done was create a rather primitive pulley system, but it would suit their needs just fine. "Let's hurry; I don't want to think about how fast the people below are gonna notice us."

Wrapping her hands and legs around the wire, Kay began to ride her way across the chasm. Giving her a bit of time to make some progress, he eventually decided she was far enough along and he took his turn. Crossing his legs over the wire and using one arm to hold onto the cable while the other stretched behind him and continued to let out cable slowly, he began to slide along the incline of the wire.

She had already reached the other side by the time he was halfway across. Hanging there in the air, she waited for him to get to her before continuing with the next stage of their plan-

She froze as she heard the familiar creaking sound of metal giving way. Looking back at where Tobias had wrapped the cable up as an anchor point, she saw the thin bar beginning to bend and succumb to the weight of a Simulacrum and fully geared Pilot.

"Tobias-!" she tried to call out as a warning, but it came too late.

He looked behind him as she yelled, only managing to catch a glimpse of the antennae breaking off before he felt the weightless sensation of freefall take him. Quickly, he began to reel the grappling hook back in the hope that he could launch another before he hit the ground-

Kay didn't have much time to climb into the window and grab the other end of the hook before it began to be pulled down along with Tobias. Holding the hook firmly, she strained against the weight of him suddenly pulling against her.

He felt the line get pulled taut, and angled himself to see what was happening now. With Kay now acting as the anchor point, he began to swing towards the building with just as much velocity as he'd had when falling-

Raising his legs up, he aimed where he was about to land and kicked right as his boots made contact with the window. The glass shattered, and he rolled onto the floor in a tumble of shards and wire. Quickly reaching to his arm to detach the grappling device from his armor lest he get pulled out the window, he stood up to see both scientists and security personnel alike standing perfectly still and staring at him with shocked expressions.

Drawing his Wingman from its holster, he sighed. "Why can't these things ever be easy?"

A/N: Alright, time to answer those Q'n'A questions.

Q1. Altherot

Hello, Matteo, loving your work as always, this is the strongest fanfiction I've ever read, so emotional, such rich characters, I do really love it! Anyway, there are of course questions about the story, that might get a bit spoilerish, so I do understand, if you don't answer them all, but I'll leave that to you.

1, It was mentioned that Titans are practically made of humans. They have a human core, thus let's say, souls and even tho they are restricted in feeling emotions, they can learn them. Do you think that Titans, with soul being in their nature, can learn to feel even without the plug-in chip that opens up their emotions? Y'know, that exact thing that KT has lost once she was depressed. Can a Titan fall in love with their pilot or feel anger and hate, even tho they are restricted in emotions, if they have enough time to learn them?

2, KT currently feels like in love with Tobias, but as you've mentioned, it is just part of her controlling the body and mind, while other parts are currently on their own inside of her. Does that mean, that, let's say Artemis, does not love Tobias (she is highly dissapointed in him and takes him as an enemy) and so the other parts? It would mean that once KT is put together, there should be less of that intense love for Tobias as it was only part of her that was rooting for the idea, nay? Also, a bit kinky question, does KT think about...well, having first contact relationship with Toby? ( ͜͡ʖ ͡) and do you think you will ever make that idea possible? (you are fan of their relationship, so don't try to say that it is weird and unnatural and whatever, because their relationship is already quite unusual and you've made one fanfic that was talking about it, canon, so yeah)

3, Kuben Blisk - officialy dead? It was said that Spyglass killed almost every IMC and Millitia leader that he could, but it doesn't mean someone like Barker couldn't survive.

4, Anything that is inspiring you when writting down these chapters? Like a movie, or a book, that you've seen not a long time ago?

A1. Matteoarts

Titans are not practically made of humans; in the Architects' universe, the original AI's upon which later iterations would be based were created by making digital copies of an existing deceased individual's brain. Later, the process was refined to simply make a template upon which completely new minds and AI's could be created without the need for an actual mind. Titans and data-cores are simply the capsules in which those AI's can be stored. As has been seen with Kay, that mind can go just about anywhere. Be that as it may, it would depend on which generation of AI we're talking about. Mayfair spoke of Titans being designed to lack fully-fledged emotions after Erebus; just as a cripple cannot walk without the use of prosthetics, an AI would not be able to feel like Kay does without the proper emotive processors (although Kay is a special case ... more to be explained in future chapters.)

Artemis definitely loves Tobias. The difference in is in how each fragment acts upon it, as well as to what degree they experience that very sensation. I can't go into this more without getting into spoiler-territory. As for thoughts about 'first-contact relations', see the chapter above this section.

Barker did survive (more to expand upon later), Graves did not. Briggs is unknown. Bish is unknown. Marder is unknown. Blisk is unknown. See, the thing about Spyglass is he's smart; hope does wonders for people, but it can also keep people in line. When you take away hope, they have nothing to lose. When you take away fear, you have the same problem. The ideal situation is one he's created, where people hope that someone is still out there fighting, but live in enough fear not to act upon the assumption that there is. By not giving specific details of each leader's death or living status, he's encased humanity in a bubble of uncertainty where they're not happy, not even remotely ... but they're obedient. TL;DR I myself am not sure whether Blisk is alive or not.

Music inspires me above all. When I listen to music, I tend to come up with scenarios and scenes for them in both film and writing. Some of these ideas I never do anything with, but others make it into my final products. For example, the climax in Tempest where KT sacrifices herself to save Tobias while the seed dies was thought up while listening to "In Flames" by Tom Player. And many of the scenes on Harmony where people are fighting Amalgamates were inspired by "Extinction", composed by Mateo Pascual. If I had to choose a thematic piece of music that fits Cinder, I'd say that Cinder matches that of "We Have to Go" by Steve Jablonsky. Among others that have inspired Cinder are "Prime vs Bee", "Sacrifice" (both also by Steve Jablonsky), and "Suicide Mission" from the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack. All in all, music is my muse.

Q2. Jordan

Would you consider doing stories for other games once you finish Cinder, as you have stated that this will definitely be the last of the trilogy, by other games, I mean star citizen and the such.

ALSO, would you consider creating your own titan class for him to use: as in, they reverse the damage on KT's mind, and put her core in a new titan chassis built from the ground up.

A2. Matteoarts

Yes, I have a few stories in mind for other games. The immediate one that comes to mind was Mass Effect, though I might do a few others I'm not gonna talk about at the moment. But yes, I'm not going to stop writing. I might even do a few other Titanfall stories not part of the main Architects' continuity.

Q3. KnightsKing

I have maybe like 2 maybe 3 questions in total, they both in someway relate to the GND series and such

1. Will we be seeing any of our old crew again? Being from Aria, and Ash, to Scorch and her fire team? If so, I can only say we go to hell and back to get them (I don't ask you to answer this if you don't want to)

2. I don't know if you've been asked. But how many chapters do you think you will write for GND, or plan to write, cause I read over the questions on your profile and you said the entire plot or storyline has already or is already thought out, so my question is how many chapter's do you plan on making?

3. Once GND ends will we ever see a sequel to this amazing piece of work that we have seen grow and prosper for a long time?

4. If you could!, would you make GND a movie?

A3. Matteoarts

1. Will we be seeing any of them? Yes. Are you going to enjoy it? Probably not.

2. Not sure. The plot is indeed outlined, but in story chunks, not chapters. Sometimes a chunk only needs one chapter, sometimes it needs up to three. Right now, there are 20 story chunks for The Last Hunter, and we're already at chapter 21 and probably only halfway. So I'd say probably around thirty to forty chapters for TLH total, though don't take that as an absolute guarantee.

3. You mean like a "Heroes of Olympus" deal to "Percy Jackson"?

... maybe. I dunno, might be thinking of something to do with D2.

4. The original idea behind GND was a machinima series, but obviously Destiny sucks for machinima making, so that never panned out. If I had the chance, would I make it one? I mean, yeah. Who wouldn't?

Q4. Karaguha

I know you think Destiny 2 was a disappointment, but there is a lot of us who like it. Are you going to put destiny 2 in your story or in a separate one as a sequel?

A4. Matteoarts

Okay, so you guys DO want a Destiny 2 story for GND. Is that what I'm hearing?

Q5. Saberius Prime

So does Nate still have his Ghost or did the Trinary Star destroy it?

A5. Matteoarts

No idea who Nate is, I'm assuming you mean Matt; he still has Seraph, yes.

Q6. Omega Alpha Hydra

Have you played Destiny 2? If so what do you think of it and If not, what is your favourite D1 exotic?

A6. Matteoarts

I have a video on my YouTube channel titled, "Destiny 2 Sucks". If that doesn't tell you what I think of it, I don't know what will. The game is complete trash, even compared to Vanilla Destiny 1. The only improvement is the lighting engine and the linear structure of their story. The story itself is bland, but at least it's better told than the first game. Favorite D1 exotic is Graviton Forfeit.

Q7. Drakon4314

Just binged what I'm calling the SIVA arc and I can say a few things.

1. Took a couple of chapters before I remembered Matt's last name was Woods so figured that out on my own.

2. Was there no way Reynard could have been saved? Like go back far enough to stop his death or was Sara to angered at him to let him live?

3. Will there be more of the others in the next few arcs? I felt like they just got sidelined big time here. I know Ash had Sara helping her but Aria who has been there just as long couldn't try and break out more?

Barring the first one these points are kinda my main questions on the story so far. Now on to me trying to figure out how the trinity star even got to gaurdians ghosts to kill them.

A7. Matteoarts

Reynard could not have been saved if Rook was to live. Plus, I think he's probably glad he finally got to die once and for all.

Again, you guys will see a bit of them, but you're probably not going to enjoy it. In other news though, if you guys REALLY want me to continue the GND universe, I might do some side stories …

Alright everybody, that's about it for the Q'n'A! Thanks for those who sent in questions, and please feel free to leave a comment/review in the section below.

Until the next time,

- Matteoarts