Hey guys. Sorry for not posting another chapter for a while. Hope you enjoy this one!

Chapter 5: A Turn of Events

After we arrived back at the Tower, Alpha was brought to the R.F.P.A., and Ham and I went to our room. "What even happened to her?" Ham asked me. "Of all the years I've known her, I have no idea. For all I know, it could have been a short circuit." "Is that even possible for Exos?" "I don't even know." There a short pause, then Ham asked me, "Do you really think that we're the only ones left? The City? The Exos?" I thought for a second. "Yep. There's no way anything could have survived the second Collapse. We're lucky we did." We converse back and forth as we take off our gear, and outside of my window I see Torrent-2 running to the R.F.P.A. "What's Torrent doing out of the Vanguard Hall?" I ask Ham. "Dunno. Maybe we should check it out..?" "Yeah, sure."

At the R.F.P.A.

We're visiting Alpha in her room, and Torrent is with us. "What are you two doing here?" He asks us, sounding rather annoyed. "We're just here to check up on her. She is a part of our fireteam." Ham answers. "Oh. Well, alright." "You alright Torrent?" I ask him. He's quiet for a second as he stares into Alpha's eyes. She was powered down at the time. "I just had no idea..." He whispered. "Torrent...?" Ham and I were as confused as the next guy. "Alex, why didn't you tell me?" He asked her, even though she couldn't respond. Ham and I looked at each other like he had spinmetal growing out of his head, then I remembered. All of the nervous breakdowns, running away from Torrent, all of this made sense. But she registered as a Guardian as an Exo. I put my hand on Torrent's back, and said, "I guess this is a good thing, right?" "I guess... Was she on that dreadnaught 700 years ago?" "Yessir. She vanished during the flash-forward." "So that's what happened..."

Alpha started to boot up, and Torrent snapped his head up. When she saw him, she jumped. "Oh, h-hey Torrent! I-I-I was just about to get up and report the S.A.B.E.R.'s destruction to the Vanguard!" Torrent stared coldly into her eyes. "This isn't about that." He held her hand, and as Alpha was blushing, he asked her, "Alex, why didn't you tell me about what happened to you?" Alpha stopped in her tracks. She looked up at him, and quietly asked him, "..you found out?" "Yes, I did. It was in the records for your repair history. Why, Alex?" She couldn't come up with anything else but, "Because the Vex killed Alex." Torrent held her tightly as she wrapped her arms around him. He whispered, "I'm so glad you're okay. I love you." "I love you too." She whispered back.

As Torrent, Ham and I left the R.F.P.A., about an hour later, Torrent had his old personality back. Energetic, happy, charismatic, and joyful. The 'Alex' situation was really tearing him apart. "You know, Torrent, I'm really happy for you. I've never loved someone enough to look for them 700 years after they were dead." "No, she wasn't dead. She was just so wounded that she had to resign. Then, she had the transformation, and signed up as a Guardian again." He responded. He didn't sound so angry and pessimistic. He sounded like he did before the second Collapse. Like he did when he and 'Alex' were wed. Things were looking up. They were. That's when it happened.

We heard a gunshot, then people screaming. They were running out of the Vanguard Hall. Torrent asked one of the runners what was going on. "Platinum killed Siphon! He killed him!" What? That makes no sense. Murder within the Vanguard? Mutiny. We ran there, and sure enough, Platinum was there, holding Torrent's Last Word, with a bullet in Siphon's head. As soon as he saw us, he aimed at us. I saw a rage in his eyes I've never seen before, and he's been pretty pissed off before. Believe me. I know. "What are you three doing here? There's nothing to see!" He yelled at us. Torrent spoke up, very careful about his next words, making sure they weren't his last ones. "Platinum, think very carefully about what's gonna happen. You don't wanna do this to yourself." "I already have. Make my way up to the Vanguard, earn everybody's trust, and break the Tower down from there! I'm not who you think I am!" Platinum was never a warrior of light. He was an agent of darkness. He wanted us to fall to chaos. He wanted to destroy his morals, and therefore himself, and take us with him. Platinum raised his Dealbreaker Auto Rifle at Platinum, and said loudly and clearly. "Platinum-10, you are under arrest! Drop the weapon and stand down now!" Bad choice of words. Platinum aimed The Last Word at Ham's forehead, and shot. "HAM!" I yelled, as his head was knocked back by the bullet.

CLANG

As Ham slowly put his head back upright, Platinum said his last words with a slight smile on his face. "Hammer, you've always impressed me." Ham pulled the trigger, and Platinum fell dead. I looked back at Ham, and saw a bullet skid mark on his forehead. "Well then, you sure do have a thick skull." I joked. He looked at me, and rolled his dark blue eyes.

2 days later

"Have either of you seen Alpha?" Torrent asked Ham and I. "Nope." "I think she went on a patrol in the Cosmodrome." I told him. "That's funny, because we got this distress call." He holds up a sound recorder, and it starts playing back the message, "This is Alpha-5! They're coming! Too many to count... can't hide, only running! They're catching up! Can't run for much longe-" Her voice was frantic and panicked. "Was she captured?" Ham asked. "We've only received signals of Fallen around the Cosmodrome. Maybe we can go on a special ops to break her out?" "I dunno about that." Torrent said, exasperated. "Fallen... Kidnapping a friend of yours, yeeessssss?" Said a voice in the corner of the Tower. "Wha-?" I jumped. I knew that voice. That guy was from the Reef. He wasn't a Guardian, certainly not human. He was... Fallen? I turned around, and Variks stood there, just like he would at the Reef a few centuries back. Only the Human and Awoken were killed. The Fallen weren't affected.

"It's a shame, yes? A good friend of yours, lost to the mercy of the Fallen House of Wolves."

"I thought we brought down the Wolves. About 750 years back." I replied.

"No, they are the smartest house of them all. Ruthless, violent, and very very clever."

"Well, what do we do?"

"Well, we can't fight them. They will... kill your friend. We must talk to them with no weapons, but our wits, yes?"

"I mean, that doesn't sound like a bad idea, besides the fact that it does. Walking into a Fallen House surrendering to them?! Are you insane?!"

"Do you want to help your friend?"

I stopped for a second to realize that he actually had a point. They weren't militaristic like the Cabal, savage like the Hive, or emotionless like the Vex. They were smart. Smarter than us, for sure.

"Fine, I'm in. Torrent?"

"Whatever it takes to get her back."

"What about you, Ham?"

"We're a fireteam. 'Till the end."

"'Till the end!"

On that day, we swore that we'd get her back, somehow...

That's Chapter 5! Hope you all enjoyed, and have fun with that Nightfall for this week. Yeah, about that... I'm probably gonna get another Ghost shell. Oops. Seeya!