Neptune was as Arizona figured it would be. Big. Blue. Even the sunlight was blue. And Neptune was totally abandoned! "Should we start walking?" Ghost asked as Arizona stood atop her ship, looking around in every direction. Above them the rings weren't even visible through the thick atmosphere. How could anything have survived here?
"Start scanning. See if you can pick up anything with signs of life. I'm talking about body heat, electric currents, I don't care if you so much pick up an animal or the Vex. Anything that'll lead us to a city."
"The likelihood of a city still standing is small. You know that, right?"
Arizona looked across the horizon. Blue. Blue. Blue. A green strand of light snaked upwards. The strand was so thin that she nearly missed it, but it stood out like a neon snake against the navy sky. She pointed in the direction, "That way. The only way with green light." From the horizon she saw a thin green strand of light.
"What green light?" Ghost squinted.
"What do you mean what do I mean?" She stared at him and he stared back. "That thin line right there?" She pointed to the sky.
He shook his body. "Nothing's there."
She stared at him through her dark visor and looked back. She definitely saw something. It was still there. How could he not see it? "Get in the ship." She jumped from the top of the ship and ran inside, nearly shutting the door on Ghost.
"You're going to follow something that's not there."
She ignored him, turning on the engines and hovering at just above 36,000 feet and rolled along, going just above idle speed. She didn't want to miss the location by accident. As she rolled along, the green thread came closer and closer, and soon there was an outline of buildings. Very tall buildings.
"I don't believe it," she and Ghost whispered in unison. The buildings were tall and most were connected. It gave off a brilliant light. Arizona had to pull higher and higher until she was well above the buildings. She stared below. Neon lights made the city glow.
Arizona landed her ship on the widest building she could find, and it was just barely wide enough for her ship. Getting out, she looked over the edge of the building. There was a road below. "You can't even see the ground, Ghost. That road's the closest thing."
"How long…has this been here? There shouldn't be a city here!"
She nodded and jumped off the building. She landed on her feet but the pain was almost as bad as getting shot by a bullet. There was the cracking of bones in her legs and it shot up into her chest. The air was knocked clean out of her. "Ow!" She screamed and rolled onto her back. She couldn't move her legs. It felt like there was fire in her chest and the edges of her vision blackened. "Ghoooooost!" Ghost appeared by her side.
"At least die if you're going to jump off a building like that. Your legs will heal soon enough."
"It hurts." She sighed and waited for what felt like half an hour for the pain to subside. The sky above was so bright, and the bright green thread still taunted her. Blues. Purples. Pinks. All of the colors danced across the sky. Light pollution, probably, but it was beautiful nonetheless. The sun was hidden in the dense fog of blue, but it still tried to cast light where it could. The buildings themselves were taller structures than what was in the Last City. They tried desperately to touch the sky. Then, a young face obscured her view. It hovered just above her.
"That was a pretty nasty fall."
Arizona scrambled to stand, her shotgun appearing in her hand.
The person held up two hands, like he was surrendering already. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Take it easy. I'm not gonna hurt ya." The voice sounded mechanic and not quite high pitched but not quite as low as she would expect a man's voice to be.
"I don't like how he said that." Arizona muttered.
"There's another one nearby." Ghost told her.
The person who stood in front of her seemed to be made of parts of machine, but still retained many human characteristics. An older man landed behind the person she stared at. This man looked much older, but still looked like he was half machine.
"What are you doing here, stranger? How did you find us?"
What was she supposed to say? That she followed a pretty green thread of light that they probably couldn't see? Slowly, she lowered her weapon. "We…stumbled upon the city."
The older man narrowed his eyes, looking down on her. "No one just 'stumbles' onto this city."
"Okay well…I did." Arizona shrugged. "Who are you two?"
"Nimbus," the younger one said before the older man could stop him. "The grumpy grandpa is Rohan."
The older man sighed and moved closer. He was taller than she was, maybe even taller than Saint and Argonaut! "You didn't answer my first question. What are you doing here?"
Ghost spoke up from behind her, "We didn't mean to intrude on your city. We were…given a tip about a city in Neptune and we came to see if it was a lie. Clearly it wasn't, and we should be on our way."
The younger person perked up and pointed, "That's cool. What's that?"
"It's…my ghost," Arizona answered before she really thought about what she was saying.
"So…that's the reason you survived the fall? Are you from Earth?"
Arizona looked from the younger person to the older man. She felt her back straighten like it usually did when she spoke to Ikora or Zavala. She lowered the shotgun. "Yes, I am a Guardian of the Last City."
The younger one grinned but the older man only sneered. "Come with us." He began to walk away. Arizona looked at Ghost and shrugged before following. She was sure he didn't like this idea very much.
They led them to what they called 'The Watchtower', which was HUGE! Inside, Arizona stared at everything, from the pillars to the ponds and the fish that floated around them. She held out her hand to one, and it turned around and happily hovered above her palm. "What are these things?" She asked absently as she scratched its…chin, she supposed.
Nimbus laughed, "Poukas."
The small pouka flew away from her. "And what about you guys?" She looked from Nimbas to Rohan.
"Cloudstriders. We're the protectors of this city. And you," he pointed an accusing finger, "are a warlord."
She shook her head, "I'm not. Warlords are an old name from my understanding. Used during a dark time after the Collapse." Nimbus' eyebrows furrowed at her. "I'm what's called a New Light, a newly risen Guardian. I was risen about a year ago." The pouka came back and flew around her in circles. She laughed and put a hand out as it dove down, and it came back up just inches above her hand. "I came here on a tip and there are more looking for this city. Why has the city stayed silent? We thought we were the last part of civilization."
Rohan spoke up, "We never wanted you Warlords here. We Cloudstriders protect the city well enough."
"And what about now?" The Pouka left her to fly around Rohan, who entertained it by putting his hands out for it to skip by.
"What do you mean?"
"Would you two…be willing to partner with us in the Last City? There's a terrible war we're about to fight, Rohan. We could use all the allies we can get."
"That's not up to us." Rohan nodded out toward the balcony. "It's up to the citizens."
"What citizens?" Ghost asked. "Ow, stop that!" He moved away from Nimbus, who had pulled experimentally on one of his panels. Nimbus shrugged sheepishly. "No touching! We didn't see anyone on our way here."
"That's because they're in the CloudArk." Nimbus half shouted. Now Arizona moved away from him, jumping gingerly back toward the pond.
"Is the CloudArk a place?"
"The CloudArk is a network. They're here. Their consciousnesses were transferred into the CloudArk recently." Rohan explained.
"So they're…digital?"
"Kind of." Rohan shrugged.
"Okay, that's not…exactly the answer I was hoping for." Arizona sighed and looked at Ghost. She felt like she knew everything he was thinking just by a single glance, and he wanted to tell Ikora, but what if they didn't want to be known?
"The likelihood that the Neomuni's will want to team up with Warlords isn't high, you should know." Nimbus said. Rohan was walking toward the open balcony. "We've heard…stories about the horrors."
"Horrors that are…really, really old, Nimbus." She sighed. "Would you at least…ask around? I have to figure out what kind of a report I'm going to be giving my commander."
"Yeah. No problem." He winked.
"Nimbus! We have work to do! Outsider, stay here!"
"It's Arizona!" She shouted as Nimbus jogged toward the balcony. The two jumped off and were soon flying over the city. She sighed and looked at Ghost.
"We should contact Ikora." Ghost reminded her gently.
Arizona looked up at one of the Poukas who started to fly around her again, purring its delight when she scratched the creature's chin.