Ch9

Note From Authors ColetteJH: I'm going to be taking a break from the fanfic for a while as I'm running out of ideas and should focus on other things. Sorry. Oh another thing thank Eltyr for the great fighting scenes!

Eltyr: Like Colette said, she'll be taking a break, so expect for there to be a delay between now and the next chapter. To compensate, this chapter is extra-large and full of awesome! Hope you all enjoy, and don't forget to review!

*"There is so little left out here,"* Luden said as their ship flew in formation with the others through the upper atmosphere. *"We were lucky to even find this ship. A Guardian can't do much to protect the City without one. But, it needs a warp drive if we ever hope to fight beyond Earth, and that Cosmodrome is the only place I know where we might still find one. We survived the Fallen once... we can do it again."* Luden said as Ocena got ready to descend.

"Well no worries Luden, we aren't alone this time," Ocena said cheerfully as her ship and her friend's ships began to descend towards the ground. The ruined Cosmodrome soon came into view as the four ships came in low and decelerated for a drop-off.

Ocena soon found herself transmatted onto the ground, her friends quickly materializing around her.

*"A Guardian ship was recently shot down here. If the Fallen haven't gotten to it yet there might be parts we can scavenge."*

"Um… which way?" Ocena asked looking around.

*"I can lead you: just hold me in your hand… yes like that and…"*

"Whoa… oh! Over there!" That was useful! Ocena looked to her friends. "Anything I should know before we start moving?"

"Well, you remember what I said about taking hits, right?" Atom asked as he checked his assault rifle.

Ocena frowned in concentration. "I think so: a Guardian's Light reinforces their armor and protects them from harm to some extent, and it also automatically causes most wounds to heal if they don't get hit for a while. If I get hit too often my Light won't be able to protect me, and I'll have to take cover while my Light recovers, right?"

Atom grunted in satisfaction. "That's the gist of it, or at least the important parts. Remember that as a Warlock your Light will recover way faster than a Hunter's or a Titan's, but it won't give you as much protection up front as if you were a Titan. Just remember: Warlocks recover, Titans can take it, and Hunters dodge."

Thane chuckled quietly. "We do indeed."

"Also, don't forget that some of your powers will need some time to 'cool down' once they're used," Victor spoke up. "You know how draining it can be to conjure void light for sustained periods of time, so you'll need to wait half a minute after you use a void grenade before you can make another one. Gliding on the other hand requires far less effort, as you know, so you should have no problem using that repetitively."

"Finally, keep your eyes open," Thane said. "There are still many valuable artifacts and rarities to be found amidst the ruins of our Golden Age. Glimmer caches, weapons stored away for the Collapse, and even Golden Age technology may be found as long as you keep your eyes open and look while seeing."

"Okay I think I got it all. Shall we head over to the ship then?" Ocena asked. She wondered what all could be found here. If a jump drive or whatever it was called was found then cool, but she wanted to wander about to see what could be found.

For an area that was in ruins and was infested with Fallen, Ocena thought the area was pretty. Some hardy signs of vegetation could be seen here and there stubbornly sprouting up through the snow; she always loved plants. A hazy memory came back to her: helping her mother take care of the flower garden and a few fruit trees on the small farm they had.

Ocena shook herself out of the memory and crept forward, following Thane's example in movement. She paused though, getting an odd prickly feeling as she looked around. Were they being watched? The Fallen didn't seem to notice them yet… plus those Fallen were pretty far away still. As they moved Ocena was careful not to get distracted by the plant life. But darn it, when she wasn't on a mission she would have to come back and nab some to plant back home.

"Whoa, there are a whole lot of Fallen over there," Ocena said as they walked up a hill. The Fallen were around some kind of building. She didn't think it was necessary to kill them as they weren't spotted yet but... "What's that bush looking thing there?" Ocena whispered while pointing to an odd, blue silvery plant. The Fallen were all over that area so she couldn't get a closer look unless she wanted to end them.

"Is that..?" Victor wondered out loud as he crept closer at a crouch. "It is! What do you know: spinmetal colonies all the way out here!"

"Spin-what?" Ocena asked.

"Spinmetal," Atom clarified. "It's a type of composite metal. It's really lightweight but tough at the same time, and the metal actually 'grows' like a plant cuz' its made by rouge colonies of nano machines designed during the Golden Age. The machines were left to wander after the Collapse, and now they're just doin' what they were designed to do an' buldin' small structures out of themselves. If ya' pluck the leaves off one of the 'plants' new ones will grow back in a matter of days, and the leaves are useful for making improvements to weapons and armor."

Machines that grew like plants? Victor had tutored her about the Golden Age, but it was times like these that really made Ocena realize how fantastic the Golden Age must have been. Now she really wanted to get to the spinmetal, but the Fallen were in her way…

Thane couldn't see Ocena's face behind her helmet but knew what she was thinking. "Let's make getting to that spinmetal an exercise," he suggested. "Ocena, I count exactly five Dregs and one Vandal."

"The Dregs are the ones with two arms; the Vandal is the one with four arms wearin' the helmet and cape," Atom clarified. "Interesting fact: Fallen are supposed to have four arms, but Dregs only have two. The reason for this?" Atom's tone became harsh, laced with bitter disgust. "Because they've been chopped off. When a Fallen falls too low on their House's social ladder, they reach the rank of Dreg, which is as low as it gets, and to emphasize their shame an' disgrace the higher-ranks have their secondary arms cut off."
"That's monstrous!" Ocena hissed.

"Wait, it gets better," Atom went on gruffly. "Normally the arms would regrow. But the higher-ups and nobility have special cuffs put on the severed limbs to keep them from growing back. Only by earning enough honor to climb above the rank of Dreg can a Fallen ever hope to get permission to re-grow its arms. As a rule, all Dregs are desperate to gain honor, so they'll fight you with everything they've got, cuz' as far as they're concerned they've got nothin' left to lose. The Vandal is a different story: he's higher ranked than a Dreg so he calls the shots whenever there isn't someone nearby that outranks him. He's better armed than a Dreg because of his rank to: a Dreg usually just has shock daggers and shock pistols, with a shock grenade if he's been doin' good lately. A Vandal commonly has a shock rifle and a shock dagger, maybe a wire rifle if he's a particularly good shot."

"So here's your task, Ocena," Victor said brightly. "Which one would you attack first, and how?"

Ocena stared at the group of Fallen and thought for a few moments. Noticing that three of the Dregs were near the Vandal, she created a void grenade in her right hand and threw it at the Vandal as hard as she could. Not waiting to see what happened, she stood up and aimed her assault rifle at the chest of one of the Dregs farther from the group, squeezing the trigger and letting loose a burst of gunfire as she heard her grenade explode. In the corner of her vision she saw three of the Dregs float back through the air, the bonds of gravity distorted as their bodies were broken down by void light. The Vandal was still alive but was reeling from the explosion. Turning her attention back to the Dreg in front of her, Ocena saw her shots impact its chest and tear oozing holes in it, and it shrieked in pain before crumpling over dead.

She whirled around back to the Vandal, who by now had recovered and was firing his shock rifle at her, the last Dreg crouched behind him and reaching for something on its belt. Ocena saw the bolts of arc energy sail through the air, occasionally swerving to zero in on her position. She took a deep breath and ran towards the Fallen, her heart racing as the shots closed in. She saw the Dreg hefting a shock grenade and preparing to throw it at her. A voice in her head told her now! and she dropped, sliding forward the way Thane had taught her, the arc blasts sailing over her head along with the shock grenade. The Vandal hissed in surprise as Ocena scrambled to her feet, two of its arms going to its belt and grasping a pair of hilts that were probably shock daggers. Ocena gathered her Light into her right hand and thrust her open palm out at the Vandal. Reality rippled and surged with void energy, and the Vandal howled as its body was consumed by Ocena's energy drain. Ocena's heart leapt in triumph as she turned to the last Dreg and emptied her assault rifle into it. She took a few breaths to calm herself and glanced back over at her friends, whom were making their way over to her.

Atom let out a whoop and applauded her. "We have a winner! Not bad at all, kid!"

"Very nicely done," Victor agreed. "I give that performance a solid ten out of ten."

Thane nodded at her. "You see? You are ready, Ocena."

Ocena beamed happy that she had done well. "I'm gonna get this now." Ocena walked over to the spinmetal and started taking it; Luden de-materialized it as soon as she was done.

"You know, when I first fought the Fallen I did notice the Dreg were weaker than the Vandal. When I meeled the Dreg it died instantly, but not the Vandal… That might be a good way for me to save ammo if there are more Dreg than anything else."

"That would typically work," Victor admitted. "But some Dregs are tougher than others, just as some Vandals are tougher than others. My point is not to lump them all into the same category in terms of durability."

Ocena nodded to show that she understood. Speaking of ammo Ocena did a quick reload then had Luden hover over her hand to show her the way again. The ship was behind them just past the shed looking thing.

"Alright it's this way." Ocena said leading the way. She had noted that her friends mostly let her lead and she was glad for that. She didn't mind having back up if it was needed, but she didn't want to be guarded like some frail princess. She was glad they knew she wouldn't like that… though she guessed they had other reasons.

Ocena paused seeing something on a shelf of the shed. She got a closer look and saw it was a Ghost, but it wasn't moving. "Oh no… is it dead?"

All of her friends let out sad sighs. "Looks that way," Atom said mournfully. "This is what happens when a Guardian dies for good: the Light left in their Ghost is devoured, and all ya' have left is a shell."

"There is a way to save it though," Victor said cryptically, causing Ocena to turn towards him in curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"Touch it," Victor urged her gently. "The Light within you will heal it." She reached to touch it and it glowed. It's eye flickered back to life once more before it vanished.

"What…?" She looked to her friends confused.

"No-one is sure what happens to them once they vanish," Thane confessed.

"Well," Victor eagerly cut in, "those who support the Theory of Interconnectivity stipulate that the Light of a Guardian rekindles the Light left in a dead Ghost long enough for it to reach out to the Traveler. The Traveler then feels the Ghost and takes it back into itself, like a parent consoling its lost child," Victor added affectionately. "Some believe that these Ghosts eventually re-emerge from the Traveler to find a new Guardian, but no-one knows for sure."

*"Sometimes the Ghost of a Guardian who revives a dead Ghost receives a memory fragment from it,"* Idea stated from Victor's shoulder. *"You should check with Luden after we get back to the Tower."*

Ocena figured she would. She would look out for other dead Ghosts to save them too.

She could already see the Guardian ship crashed and mostly destroyed. Two Vandals, a Dreg and… some flying robot. Off to the right she could see a small bit of water... and more spinmetal! Ocena quickly snuck over to collect it before moving to handle the Fallen, she didn't get as lucky not getting hurt this time though. One of the Vandal had managed to her with its knife but she took it out.

"Goodness that hurts…" She said looking at the wound on her left arm. As she watched Light began to wrap around the tear in her sleeve, and her cut and the tear began to seal up as if nothing had happened.

"That's… something else." She could get to the ship now.

"Um before I get any closer, do Fallen ever leave traps?" She asked a little worried.

"Sometimes," Atom muttered. "I've seen reports of them using laser trip-wire grids to block of places they don't want anyone gettin' into. It takes some hard to find tech for 'em to do that though, so they rarely do that. What we really need to watch for is an ambush."

"Fallen do not prefer straight up fights," Thane explained. "But then, neither do we Hunters, so I know of some of the methods they might try to use to surprise us."

"Alright guess we're clear then."

*"Send me over and I'll scan the ship."* Luden said.

Ocena had Luden hover in her hand then allowed him to drift over the ship to scan it.

*"The ships avionics are completely catatonic. But I can cull their last transmission."*

Ocena couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on, too much disturbance.

*"They managed to restore an information hub here. Down in the tunnels below. We should go check it out."

Ocena had Luden show them the way. The Cosmodrome Network was in the building Ocena had taken the Fallen out at.

"Back this way it seems." Ocena said once more taking the lead. She kind of liked missions she guessed. They went down the stairs and Ocena explored and found a box with supplies. New armor and twenty Glimmer.

"Should I use the armor right away or wait until we're done?" Ocena asked. Not sure what to do.

"Is the protection rating better than what you have on now?" Victor asked. "If so, you can have Luden instantaneously switch it out for you."

Ocena looked it over and noticed, yes it was better. "Luden help me out?"

*"On it."*

In only a few second Ocena had the new armor on. "That is cool."

A bit further down in the building it was darker and a small number of Fallen were down there: nothing that wasn't easily taken care of. Then Luden did his scanning again on an active data console.

*"A map of the entire area. What we really need to find is a warp drive, so we can jump to any planet or moon. Our only hope is where we found our ship. We have to go back."

"Lovely…" Ocena said softly. She hoped she didn't get a nasty flashback going back there.

Ocena lead the way back up, hearing an odd sound she looked up to see a Fallen ship. Bad feeling; let's move. She thought quickly moving off. Oh more spin metal.

Ocena made a mistake of wandering off without her friends while Victor and Atom were taking a quick survey of some of the working computer consoles in one of the buildings. Ocena was better than she had been for sure, but there were always reasons to go in groups.

A few moments after Ocena had left Thane realized that, aside from the sound of Neutron and Idea data-mining an old console bank and Victor and Atom debating the probability of finding tactical data, there was no other sound. By now, Ocena should have posed a question as to what they were doing. Thane spun around, and his heart lurched in his chest when he could not immediately see Ocena.

"She is gone…" Victor looked up when he heard Thane use that peculiar tone that somehow drew all eyes to him without ever rising above the volume of a mutter. His eyes widened when he realized what Thane meant, and Atom let out a heart-felt curse as the three of them took off running, determined to find Ocena before trouble found her.

Ocena collected the spin metal carefully, but then she heard an odd sound behind her and turned her head, just in time for a sword to lash across her back.

*"Ocena!"* Luden cried as he quickly caught her mind to hold onto her. The large Captain moved on when Ocena was down, smaller enemies following it.

*"Atom, Victor, Thane anyone! Guardian down!"* Luden called. He didn't know how long he could hold Ocena but the three better hurry! He could feel a little of the Traveler's Light from here, so that meant they weren't in a Dark Zone and weren't in immediate danger of being devoured, but still…

Ocena was still aware of what was going on as she seemed to hang there in a weird limbo inside Luden. She oddly didn't feel too afraid, although she was still jolted by the pain of the Fallen Captain killing her! Then her friends arrived, and things got… impressive. The first thing that happened was that Thane appeared behind the Captain. Ocena watched him literally appear out of nowhere behind the large Fallen, no weapon drawn as he took another step closer. As fast as a pair of snakes Thane's arms shot out and seized the Captain on both sides of his head. The Captain didn't even have time to react as Thane immediately wrenched its head to the side and twisted. There was a sickening crack as the Captain's spine snapped and its windpipe was crushed, white smoke that Atom told her was called Ether leaking out of cracks in the exoskeleton as the Captain fell to the ground dead.

The remaining Fallen took notice of their leader's death and turned to screech angrily at Thane. While this was happening Victor crept quietly up to Luden and extended his hand. In less than three seconds Ocena's dead body vanished and a revived Ocena re-materialized, stumbling back only for Victor to catch her. "Easy," he soothed, "I've got you, you're alright."

Before anyone else could speak Atom made his presence known: something big and heavily armored leapt into the air from a ridge overlooking the Fallen, the sun's glare reducing Atom to an indistinct dark shape as the Fallen squinted and tried to shoot him. Then Atom clenched his fists and… dropped. It was like he had suddenly gained a thousand pounds, and when he landed he slammed his fists into the ground. He may as well have been a bolt of lightning: arc energy exploded out from Atom's impact point as a blast wave, annihilating the Fallen and leaving the ground crackling with runaway electricity. A few brightly glowing orbs were discharged from Atom's body as he straightened up and strafed the area with his assault rifle before calling out "Clear!"

Ocena blinked a little dazed… and her back hurting a bit. "...I… didn't even see it… coming… or hear it…" Well that wasn't true she had heard it; just a tad too late.

"Oh, thank the Traveler!" Victor sighed in relief. "You scared us half to death! Please say something next time you get the urge to wander off!"

"Not that we aren't happy to take out the trash," Atom added as he jogged over to them. "But we'd rather not have to revive you: dyin' hurts."

Thane said nothing, merely gazing down at the Captain that lay dead at his feet.

Ocena lowered her head meekly. "Sorry…I'll try not to do that again."

"We are simply happy that we were in time," Thane said at last.

*"If you are alright we can keep moving."* Luden said.

"Yeah I'm okay…" Ocena looked over to where they needed to go. A building, a rather large one.

"This way then…" Ocena lead the way making sure to stay near her friends this time. She noticed a supply box above them. "Um… how are we meant to get that?" She asked.

"Like so," Thane replied. He sprinted towards the ledge, jumped, and then jumped again at the height of his first jump. After landing he turned around and crouched down to hold his hand out. "Jump. I will catch you and pull you up."

Ocena jumped up and Thane caught her helping her up. "Let's see... oh a fusion rifle and more Glimmer!"

"Well there's good news," Atom called up from where he and Victor stood below. "I seem to recall you bein' a pretty good shot with those during training."

Ocena beamed. She recalled the same thing. "So uh… if we hop down we won't get hurt right?"

"Not from this height," Thane replied confidently as he himself dropped to the ground and landed in a crouch.

Ocena hopped down after him then lead the way into the building.

"Gosh, I wish I could have seen this place before it was ruined… though I might have and just can't recall." Ocena said looking around. "Is there anyone around who does remember it?" She asked.

"A little," she was surprised that it was Atom who spoke up. "Mostly I remember comin' through here with my squad. We were a buncha Exos who volunteered for a suicide mission to cause some serious havoc in Fallen territory to buy time for the first Titans to finish the wall around the City." He paused. "I lost a lotta friends here, a long time ago…"

Ocea frowned. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have asked…"

"Hey, don't sweat it kid," Atom said while giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "I made my peace with the past a long time ago. I honor my friends by crackin' as many Fallen skulls as I can… and by makin' sure my new friends stay intact, of course," he added cheerfully.

*"Scanning for warp drive. Bad news: It's already in Fallen hands."*

"Of stinking course…" Ocena sighed. "Well, not like we can ask for it politely."

"Don't worry," Atom said as he withdrew a shotgun and cocked it. "I'm real good at persuasive speeches."

Ocena grinned. "I don't doubt it."

Walking a bit further Ocena passed through a doorway and froze up.

*"I hope you're ready for this."*

I suddenly get the feeling I'm not. Ocena thought. She didn't like the feeling she was getting. It was like… there was no light.

Thane froze. "Darkness Zone. The Darkness is concentrated here: if we are killed, and are not revived in time…"

"Don't worry," Victor cut in defiiantly. "If anyone is killed I'll soon have them back on their feet." He tapped his helmet, which looked like it had wingtips on it, as if to emphasize a point.

"Um…" Ocea really wasn't feeling good about this. Part of her wanted to turn tail and run while the other was ready to destroy any Fallen in her path.

They emerged in an underground area that was a bit more open than the rest of the complex. There didn't seem to be any Fallen nearby, and they could see a pile of looted mechanical parts, one of which might have been a warp drive. They carefully moved closer to it, but then…

*"It's in the walls!"* Luden suddenly squawked. For a moment Ocena had no idea what he was going on about: then she saw it. A Fallen even bigger than that one Captain… in fact, she realized with a start that she recognized it! It had been the one leading the Fallen that were chasing her when she first found her ship! It had a scar of purple cracks running along its neck, which might have been leftover from the void grenade she threw at it to get away. Unfortunately it recognized her too, and it let out a hate-filled roar when it saw her.

Atom swore loudly. "Freakin' Archon!" he shouted, which Ocena didn't understand but guessed it was really bad. Before her friends could move closer the Archon let out a loud wail, and dozens of Fallen flooded into the room! Ocena's friends immediately unloaded on the incoming Fallen, leaving her to square off with the Archon.

The Archon leveled a massive gun at Ocena and roared as it advanced, causing her to backpedal as she readied a void grenade. She saw the Archon tense up at the sight of the grenade, and made the split second decision to throw the grenade at its left. Her intuition paid-off as the Archon tried to leap to the left to avoid the grenade, only to move directly into its path and into the explosion. Ocena quickly hid behind a column, narrowly avoiding the return fire as she took out her fusion rifle. She lightly squeezed the trigger again and again, using a trick Atom had taught her to make the gun constantly charge up half-way so that she could fire at a moment's notice. She then whipped around and took aim at the Archon, firing a burst of solar energy at it and causing it to grunt in pain. She fired several bursts at it before its own shots broke through her armor, forcing her to duck behind a pillar again. While she recovered she noticed Victor backing up her way while firing at an advancing crowd of Fallen: she'd never seen so many! It was all her friends could do to keep them from swarming in and interfering with her duel against the Archon!

Suddenly Victor bellowed really loud, causing Ocena to jump as flames erupted around his body! She felt some sort of warmth enter her body, and suddenly her void grenade recharged earlier than normal! Victor then charged the Fallen like a madman, bellowing something about the Traveler's Light purging them and chucking several flaming grenades! It was like his grenades were automatically recharging! Ocena tore her eyes away from this and quickly lobbed another void grenade at the Archon. It was getting weaker, she just needed a little more time. She emptied the magazine of her assault rifle into the Archon and then switched to her fusion rifle to fire one final burst.

But it wasn't enough! The Archon roared and suddenly stepped closer, slamming the ground and knocking Ocena away. Ocena grit her teeth and balled her hands into fists: that was it! She'd had it being afraid of these things! Void light gathered around her as she jumped into the air and gathered all of her Light into her right hand. She pulled back, and let loose a nova bomb that would make any voidwalker proud, pulverizing the Archon with a blast of vacuum and angry quantum energy.

Ocena blinked: the Archon was dying! It let out a wail as it fell to its feet, Ether leaking from its wounds as it finally went still. The remaining Fallen let out cries of despair and quickly retreated, leaving Ocena's friends to stare at her in wonder.

*"You just killed an Archon, and we got a warp drive. This could cripple the Fallen! We need to see the Speaker." Luden said.

"That…" Ocena breathed. "Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"'Wasn't as bad?'" Atom repeated mutely. "Girl, that wasn't bad for most senior Guardians! There's only three or so ranks above an Archon in Fallen society! You just killed one of their bigwigs! Oh man, Luden's got it pegged: this'll really put the fear of the Light in em'!" Atom was positively jubilant.

"You did… phenomenal… on your own…" Victor panted. "Ah… I apologize if I said anything odd while in my radiance state…"

Thane merely offered her a silence that still managed to tell that he was smiling as he rested a hand on Ocena's shoulder.

"So uh… shall we head back? I feel a little tired after that. I guess I should see the Speaker."

After collecting the warp drive, the four Guardians' Ghosts summoned their jumpships from orbit and transmatted them inside. From there they spent the short flight back to the Tower eagerly discussing the findings of their trip, especially the implications of their blow to the Fallen house of Devils. Before long they landed at the Tower, and Ocena made her way to see the Speaker.

Ocena walked into the large area looking around. The Speaker worked around here? Wow. There was an enormous instrument like a telescope or something, only it was scanning some sort of hologram.

"There was a time when we were much more powerful." The Speaker said coming down some stairs. "But that was long ago."

Ocena turned to him, Luden hovering close to her. "Until it wakes and finds its voice, I am the one who speaks for the Traveler. You must have no end of questions Guardian." He said. Ocena followed him as he walked a little. She looked up at the Traveler feeling bad for it. She wondered if it was in pain.

"In its dying breath the Traveler created the Ghosts," Luden flew up to look clearly at the very thing that had made him and other Ghosts. "To seek out those who can wield its light as a weapon - Guardians," he clarified cheerfully, "to protect us. And do what the Traveler itself... no longer can," he finished sadly.

"What happened to it?" Ocena asked sadly. It almost hurt to look at sometimes.

"I could tell you of the great battle, centuries ago... how the Traveler was crippled," the Speaker replied grimly. "I could tell you of the power of the darkness, its ancient enemy. There are so many tales, told throughout the city to frighten children. Lately, the tales have stopped... the children are frightened anyway." He said as he walked away a bit. "The Darkness is coming back. We will not survive it this time."

Luden spoke up. *"Its armies surround us. The Fallen are just the beginning."*

"What can I do?" Ocena asked.

"You must push back the Darkness. Guardians are fighting on Earth and beyond... join them. Your Ghost will guide you. I only hope he chose wisely." The Speaker walked off.

*"I did, I'm sure of it. We're in this together now."* Luden said following Ocena as she walked off, not knowing that the Speaker's last words had bothered her.

Ocena's friends were waiting for her when she got back from talking to the Speaker.

"So?" Atom asked. "How'd it go? Are we allowed to head back to the Cosmodrome when we're ready to give the Fallen another beatin'?"

"Um… sure if you want…" Ocena said her eyes low. "I may just stick to the Tower for a while…"

Atom let out a triumphant whoop, missing Ocena's downcast expression. "Oh hell yeah! Wait'll I tell the other Titans: we're finally gonna get back in the fight! Catch you mooks later, I gotta war ta help plan!" Atom called as he took off towards the Titan barracks.

Thane noticed Ocena's expression and tone right away. "What's wrong Ocena? Did the Speaker say something that upset you?"

Ocena wrung her hands a little. "He said… he said, he hoped Luden chose wisely…"

Victor smiled. "That's just his way: he wants to be optimistic, but his position forces him to be realistic more often than not. He's trying to keep from filling you with false hope and making you think you are invincible. He's never been one to doubt the Traveler's will: Luden picked you, and the Speaker knows the significance of a Ghost's choice."

"And to revisit recent events," Thane chimed in with a smile, "you, a rookie Guardian, have killed a Fallen Archon. Many of my Hunter brethren are clamoring to know this young friend of mine who has done what few of us can boast of doing."

Ocena opened and closed her mouth, she'd had something to say but after hearing that clearly that thought had been wrong.

"Well… none the less I think I'll recover a little and study a few things then go out again, but just to scavenge you know? Get use to fighting more."

"Of course," Victor said with a smile. "Take as much time as you need. You've done a lot in one day, even for a Guardian. When you are ready, we will be with you."

Thane looked like he was debating something. "To revisit the matter of the Crucible… I do not recommend it unless you feel the confidence to try. But it will provide you with combat experience."

"I think I'll pass on that a while longer..." Ocena said sheepishly. "The Fallen are one thing… other Guardians are another… you know?"

Victor smiled slightly. "Indeed. And besides, I often find that Guardians are far wilier opponents than the servants of the Darkness. You see, anything goes in the Crucible: weapons, grenades, even Supers. Maybe one day you'll be ready, but until then… I'd stay clear of Lord Shaxx."

"Will do." Ocena chirped.

*"Ocena I just received a message… from Avi."*

Ocena perked up. "Oh?"

*"Word gets around pretty fast, she won't admit it but I think she wants to know you are alright."*

She smiled. "Alright I'll find her. Oh," Ocena looked to Thane. "Avi seems… different. Did anything happen to her?"

Thane frowned. "We Hunters do what we can to hide our pain. Everyone has scars, and we all have ways of dealing with them. We Hunters simply resort to distancing ourselves from others as opposed to other more… productive methods."

Ocena frowned. "I see… well I won't ask her too much in case she gets upset but I'll see you guys later!" With that she set off looking for Avi, feeling a little more light-hearted than she had when she first came to the Tower.