Chapter 1: When the Light Died

Ellis

We were on Titan when the world went to shit. Our Clan, "The Papa Bear Fire Team", was tasked with raiding and securing Hive Ritual Sites being created on titan. Cayde wasn't too thrilled about us taking the mission but Cayde isn't happy unless he's shooting a gun. Just six members of the clan were there, we split into teams of three. Everyone else was on standby back on Earth. I was currently partnered with two of the clan's founders and we had just cleared out the last remaining ritual zone. "Well boys, looks like the mission was a success! Who's your daddy" said Joe, who was our fearless leader. "You ask that every time we complete a mission, it's getting a bit old" Kacey replied. Joe chuckled a little, "Well excuse me, can't help that I'm papa bear?" Kacey just shook his head. I surveyed the area we were currently in, something just felt off. The hive had been more active in the last few days but it seemed like they were preparing a defense as opposed to trying to wipe out humanity, which was their normal MO.

I let out a sigh; maybe I was just imagining things. I turned my attention to Joe and Kacey who were still bickering; you could always count on them for comedic relief. "Guys enough, lets meet up with the others and get back to the traveler." I said "We need to plan our next move, which means I need time to devise strategies." We all summoned our ghost and were preparing to return to our ships when we got a transmission over coms. "Guys! Something's wrong. Dustin just collapsed!" Came Clinton's voice. "Get to Siren's watch now!" Joe, Kacey and I took off at a run, we were only about 500 meters from their location. While we were running Joe began yelling over coms "What do you mean collapsed? What the hell happened?!" No response. "Clinton! Dustin! Dennis!" Still no response. We began to run faster, something was definitely wrong. Kacey tried to reach the others back on earth but there was no response. I tried to reach Cayde or Zavala and again no response, it's like the long range coms were being jammed. Even with ghost boosting the signal we couldn't get thorough.

After running for just a few minutes we reached sirens watch. "Split up and find them" Kacey said. I ran up to the observation deck, our rendezvous point, to see what I could find and there they were. Clinton, Dustin and Dennis, all collapsed on the floor. I drew my weapon and moved in slowly, did something attack them? Were there still hive remnants around? I swept the room quickly and quietly as a hunter should but found no trace of anyone or anything else around. I called Joe and Kacey over to my location, it was fortunate that short range coms were still operational. Kacey arrived first and removed his helmet. "What happened?" he asked. "I shook my head "I don't know, when I got here they were all like this. There were no signs that anyone else has been here either." Kacey bent over Clinton and removed his helmet. Clinton was breathing but barely, sweating profusely and he looked to be in pain. Kacey then removed the helmets from both Dustin and Dennis and found them in the same condition.

I looked around the room quickly; I knew something didn't feel right. As I looked around I noticed Joe wasn't here. "Kacey, stay here with them. See if you can do something for them with your powers. I'm going to see where Joe is." I said. He nodded and continued to check on our fallen teammates. I left the observation deck and preceded down the stairs, I didn't have to go far though. Joe was there, collapsed on the staircase. I rushed to his side and removed his helmet. Just like the others, what could've done this? I put his arm around my shoulder and lifted him up. No easy feat I may add, why did Titans have to have such heavy armor? I slowly climbed the steps carrying Joe and returned to the observation deck. I laid him next to the others and took a deep breath. Kacey was at the main computer terminal frantically typing away. "Got any ideas what the hell is happening?" I asked walking over to him. "Barely, ghost and I have been trying to reach the others or the tower and all we managed to get back was a message that said 'light gone.'" He responded. "I'm trying to get us patched into the emergency channels to see if we can get in contact with someone but so far no luck."

"Keep Trying. Cause I have a bad feeling about this whole situation. Ghost and I will analyze the other ghosts and see what we can find." I said. Kacey simply kept typing. I summoned my ghost and he simply fell into my hands. "Something is wrong, I feel different." He said weakly. I looked at Kacey and watched as he collapsed across the keyboard. That's when I felt it, a cold wave rushing over me. It felt like my soul had been shredded apart, and then the world went black.

Kacey

I woke up slowly and found myself still at the computer terminal; I turned my chair around and found the others still passed out. Ellis was passed out at my side clutching his ghost to his chest. I shook my head to clear the fog from it, I still felt so weak. I summoned my ghost and he weakly hovered "Kacey, thank god your alive!" he exclaimed. "If I had lost you, well I don't want to think about that." I held up my hand "Ghost, what the hell happened to us? Why do I feel so weak?" I asked. Ghost gave what could pass as a sigh "It's gone" he said softly. I gave a confused look. "What? What is gone?" I asked sternly. "The light, Kacey someone wiped out the light. You no longer have your guardian powers and I can no longer resurrect you, though I can heal you." He replied. I opened my mouth to respond but nothing came out. This couldn't be possible, it was a lie, had to be. I turned back to the computer and began trying to access the emergency frequencies. Someone somewhere had to be out there. As I typed I turned my thoughts to our friends on earth. Were they ok? I shook the tough from my mind. 'Stay Calm, be rational and focus' I said to myself. "Ghost see if you can get the others up, maybe you can get their ghosts functioning again so they can heal them" I said. "Alright I'll do what I can" he replied. After just a few minutes I managed to finally get into the emergency channel, that's when I heard Zavala's voice.

"All guardians who can heed my voice please listen carefully. The Red legion has attacked the traveler. I repeat the red legion has attacked the traveler. The assault on the traveler has caused the light to fade away and render all guardians powerless. Cayde and Ikora are nowhere to be found and we are still under siege. All guardians, you are to evacuate to emergency locations as per Omega Protocol. Citizens you are to reach the emergency shuttles for evacuation immediately. Take caution, the red legion are hunting and killing powerless guardians as well as civilians. I pray you all remain safe"

The Color drained from my face, this couldn't be happening. We needed to get back to earth and fast. The message began replaying itself, and I just sat there. This is was the worst possible situation and I was literally powerless to do anything about it. I put my head down and took a deep breath. Suddenly I heard I shriek and turned to see a thrall charge straight at me. "Duck!" came a voice from behind and I immediately dropped my head and head a gunshot go off. I raised my head and saw the body of the thrall sprawled across the floor. "Oh Yeah One Shot Kill, Man I love this shotgun!" exclaimed a voice. "Damnit Joe that was way to close a shot" I grumbled. "Well next time I won't save you" he snapped back. "Guys, we have bigger issues than this" Clinton said in an exasperated tone. "We are TARGETS! AND IT'S NOT JUST US. We need to get out of here like now" Joe put his hand on Clinton's shoulder. "We'll be fine, don't worry. We'll get you to your husband and Dustin we'll get you to yours. They'll be ok too." Clinton nodded and Dustin shrugged.

I stood up and faced the group, they were all up and aside from looking run down they were ok. I felt bad that Dennis was with us. He was a new recruit that I had been mentoring, had I knew this was going to happen I would've made sure he was somewhere safer. But what was done was done; I'd just have to keep an eye on him. "So fearless leader, what's the plan?"

Joe

"So fearless leader, what's the plan?" Kacey asked me. The other's all turned their attention to me. I should expect that being the clan leader and all. Plus these guys were like family to me and I needed to keep them safe. "Well judging by the message Zavala is broadcasting, we should first get somewhere safe." I said. I pointed to the thrall corpse "Especially considering there may be hive remnants. Once we're up in the air Ellis start making up a strategy to help us deal with not having powers" I said I summoned ghost, "Buddy are you good to transport me to my ship?" I asked him, poor little guy. He looked so beat up without the light. "Yes, Fortunately I have the capability to get you to your ship." He responded. "But be warned, Hive activity has been detected close to our present location."

Dustin stepped forward, "You guys can go, I'm in a particularly bad mood and need to let off some steam." He said voice full of anger. "I can't let you stay here alone with no powers!" I said raising my voice. Ellis put his hand on my shoulder, "I'm staying here too, I need to make sure of something, once Dustin works out his anger we will join you. You guys need to go now" he said. I wanted to stop them but he was right, we were running out of time and the situation was getting worse. Besides once Dustin got in a bad mood, powers or no powers he was a force to be reckoned with and highly dangerous. "Be safe you too and meet us back on earth as soon as you can." I said. Clinton, Dennis, Kacey and I summoned our ghosts and transported back to our ships. "Ghost get us to Earth now!" I said.

Dustin

I watch the group transport out, it was just me and Ellis. But that didn't matter to me. All that mattered was that I destroyed something. "Dustin, I know what you're thinking but I need you to stay here and guard me for a bit." Ellis said. "Don't worry according to my ghost their converging on this location and will probably be here in waves. You'll get a chance to destroy stuff." He said as he sat at the computer. "You don't know me" I mumbled. I pulled out my rifle and checked how much ammo I had left. Luckily for me I had enough for a decent fight. "What are you over there doing?" I asked, not really caring about the answer. I just wanted to kill time before hive forces get to us. "I'm scanning Titan to see if there are any other guardians here." He said. "Gentlemen, it seems as though the Hive forces have arrived" Ghost said.
I cocked my rifle and shivered in anticipation, "I'll be back" I said. "Just don't die, I'll be in touch via coms" he replied. I shrugged and walked over to the far door and closed and locked it. "You don't die." I said running out the other door with my gun drawn.

I could hear them outside as I got further down the steps. Couldn't be too many left around here after we raided the place and took down the ritual sites. I reached the door and stuck my gun out. Instantly a hail of bullets fired. "Alright, let's get to work." I said to myself. I may not have my powers but I still have my grenades, my gun and I was super pissed. I charged out firing in all direction, I managed to take down three or four acolytes before hiding behind some crates. "Dustin, can you hear me?" came Ellis' voice over coms. "I'm kind of busy right now" I replied tossing a grenade at my enemies. "Yeah I figured. I have a visual on you, there's only four enemies left." He said. I gave a little smile, just four left. This wouldn't be a challenge. I moved quickly and dispatched the closest enemy to me with my knife, using its body as a shield. Two acolytes decided to try and flank me, big mistake. I ducked behind the crates again and waited until they got closer. I shielded my eyes and set off my flashbang grenade just a few feet in front of me. Thanks to my helmet my ears were safe from the blast. I looked to my left and saw one of the acolytes stunned so I moved in and stabbed him in the head. Using my gun, I managed to take the acolyte on the right down. All that was left was the knight, I pushed the dead acolyte I had been using as a shield towards him to throw him off balance. It didn't work to well he was too quick. He charged with his sword and I barely managed to dodge. He came at me again and again and I just kept dodging. I was getting more and more pissed, enough was enough. I put my rifle down and pulled my side arm. He charged at me again and managed to tag me in the shoulder, but he left himself wide open. I moved in quickly and closed the space between us, then pressed my gun against his forehead. "Fuck you" I said as I pulled the trigger.

"Dustin come in." Came Ellis' voice over coms. I holstered my weapon and responded "What?". I could hear him take a deep breath. "Looks like Titan is clear for now, no signs of other people. But we need to leave, we're picking up Red legion ships approaching." I scoffed. Did he think I was afraid of the Red Legion? Even without my powers I could still put someone down, I mean look what I just did. "Dustin, we need to go. Earth is still pretty far away and we are in no condition for a long drawn out fight, especially without the light." He said. I kicked the corpse of the fallen knight, I knew he was right. This whole thing just sucked, and I was angry. Mostly at myself.

Clinton

It had been a couple hours since we left the others on Titan and I began to get more worried about them. I mean not too long ago we spotted a Red Legion patrol ship headed in their direction. I had to stop myself from going after them. What made it worse was that the long-range communications were still down, and even if they weren't we couldn't take the chance of the enemy intercepting the transmission. I just had to believe they were alright. That a lot of people were alright.

We were flying in camouflage mode so that we had a better chance of escape, considering our FTL drives were currently unavailable. I placed ghost in charge of flying and my thoughts turned to my husband; he wasn't a guardian like us. Just a gentle awoken man; a scholar. He wasn't suited for dealing with a situation like this and we didn't live with the clan like some of the others. He was alone, and I wasn't there to protect him. I switched my ship to auto pilot and sat back and took a deep breath. Usually I was so upbeat and positive but this time not so much. I just wanted to get back as soon as possible, but I knew it would take a few days before we got to earth. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, I was still feeling the effects of losing my powers and I needed to rest.

Suddenly my ship shook violently and Dennis came across coms "It's a Red legion patrol ship! They're engaging!" he shouted. "Coming from the rear!" I switched controls back to me and began to dodge the incoming fire. I needed to get around them, as it stood only Dennis and I had our ships modified for battle at the moment; considering Ellis and Dustin stayed behind. "Joe, Kacey you two get going. Dennis and I will handle this and catch up" I said over coms. "I am not leaving another teammate behind!" Joe shouted back. "If you don't we would all die, we can't fight back and protect you both at the same time!" Dennis replied. "They'll be fine, let's go before another patrol ship gets here!" Kacey said. I flew behind Kacey and Dennis behind Joe and turned our ships towards the enemy. "Light 'em up!" Dennis said as he began firing. I followed suit. I tracked Joe and Kacey on my sensor leave the area and Dennis and I began our battle.

Dennis

The enemy was larger so it was an easier target, and slower. This is what I lived for, battles in the air. I quickly transmitted a battle plan over to Clinton. It was a simple pincer maneuver designed to make it harder for the ship to hit both of us. I had Clinton cover the rear since all the primary weaponry on the enemy ship was at its front. We moved quickly into position never stopping our firing on the ship. I kept dodging the incoming fire from the enemy; I was just waiting and biding my time. Smoke began to seep from the top of the sip and I knew that we had done some significant damage to it. "Clinton Disengage and go after the others." I said over coms "You do not want to be around for this next part" "Are you sure?" he replied. "Yeah, that ship is dead in the water so I'm going destroy it. Get going." I watched Clinton disengage and speed off in the direction of our teammates, I wouldn't be far behind. I watched the enemy ship begin to charge up, this is what I had been waiting for. Arc Energy! Their plan was to finish me off with an arc blast however; my ship was outfitted with an arc absorber that would absorb the energy. They fired and I activated the converter simultaneously and watched the energy levels on my ship rise.

"Energy levels are at their max and we have quite some excess we're building up" Ghost said. I smiled, "Good! When they're done firing, compress the excess and fire it back!" I said. After two minutes the enemy ships firing halted and ghost began to compress the excess energy we received, it would be a minute before we could fire but it didn't matter. Their ship was out of power, and they were out of luck. "Firing now!" Ghost said as a massive arc burst poured from my ship crashing into the red legion causing the ship to explode. "WHOOO HOOO! I love fireworks!" I cheered. Something good finally happened, my ship got access to all its major functions again. Most ships just drew it's power from the light, but mine had always drew from arc energy going back to my days in the military.

I did a quick scan of the area for more enemy ships, and when my scan came back clear. I turned my ship around headed off towards the others.

Joe

I was frantic. In just a few hours everything went to shit. I had lost my powers, contact with the team back home and was forced to leave four teammates behind powerless. These guys were my friends, more than that they were like my family. I was the leader yet, I'm literally powerless to do anything for them. I tear fell rolled down my cheek, I was just that frustrated. I scanned the area and picked up a ship on my radar headed towards us, it was too small to be an enemy ship. My heart jumped when I heard Clinton's voice come through the com. "Clinton! You're ok!" I said excited "Yeah, thanks to Dennis" he replied. His ship pulled up next to mine. "Is he ok?" I asked , but there was no response. Ghost came across the com " I apologize but, it seems he's fallen asleep. I will be piloting for him."

'Poor Guy Must be tired' I thought to myself. He had been on about four raids this week already then this happened. I couldn't blame him for being tired, hell I was still feeling a bit run down too. "Kacey, how long till we get to earth?" I asked. "About two days without our FTL drives." He replied. Two days flying through space, basically defenseless. I guess I should count my blessings, we were alive. That's something.

I just hope the guys back home were ok.

Dennis

This was great, my ship had enough power to make the jump to earth. If I could catch up with the others we could all go together and regroup. Was I awesome or what? It took me a little over two hours to reach the others location. "You guys miss me?" I asked "I'm glad you're ok. Clinton told us you stayed behind and that you were pretty good in that fight" Kacey said. "I was a pilot in my past" I said. "Fought some of the first battles against the vex and the red legion". I didn't mean to brag, well maybe I did. I hadn't been In the clan long and I was still adjusting to life as a guardian. So I wanted them to know that I could keep up with them. "That aside, guys I can get us back to earth!" I said. They all started talking at once over coms. It was hard to discern who was saying what. "GUYS!" I shouted trying to get their attention. "The how is not important, at least not now. Let's get to earth and I'll explain later". I had ghost tether my ship to the others, so once I activate the FTL they would tag along. "Is this safe?" Clinton asked. I chuckled "Safer than anything else we've done today" I said as I activated the FTL Drive, we were on our way home.