"So...let me get this straight" Han tiredly said while massaging the bridge of his nose.

The group had migrated into the broken down room on the first level of the building Han was hiding in. Taking in the awed face of the kid in front of him and the...lack of light emitting from his armor Han came to a conclusion less than favorable.

A greenhorn came to save him.

"A newly risen deadman who just finished breaking out of a fallen stronghold thought he and his ragged weaponry could come help me take on a couple hundred fallen and Hive? Hell kid, do you even know what the hive are!?"

"He's only been alive for about 6 hours Han. But he was able to draw out the travelers light and take on a fallen captain while battling leftover fallen troops. That has to count for something." Angel defended Alex before the boy could even retort to the veteran hunter.

The aged hunter scoffed in response "Means you two are annoying as hell to kill."

Shaw crossed his arms and sighed leaning against the frame of a broken window. "look kid...I'm not diminishing what you did. I've met many guardians who would've had trouble or outright failed in that kind of situation so I give you props."

Alex stayed silent and let the man continue as Angel buzzed quietly next to him. Obviously, they both shared the trait of not taking criticism well or being reprimanded.

"You don't know how things work yet. I don't need you getting cocky thinking you can take on wizards and ogres or other things you probably haven't even heard of."

Han moved from the window with fallen look on his features and rested a a closed fist against the young guardians chest.

"It puts not only yourself in danger, but also your team and ghost. No guardian is invincible..."

Han rotated his hand and opened it slowly drawing Alex's attention. Small broken electronic shards outlined with specks of red creased the man's palm. They were the shards of a ghost.

"That's...Han I still sense the travelers light in you. Is it-"

"Maeve...my...she and I were close" The somber voice cutoff Angel as Han brought the shards closer to him.

"She and another we're my fireteam. Something you might find yourself apart of kid. We had been together for years, journeying through Sol and fighting anything the traveler deemed unworthy of its light"

Han brokenly fell onto a rusted steel chair that creaked under his weight.

"Han" Alex finally spoke, his voice low and subtle.

"How did it happen.."

The elder guardian slowly breathed out calming down lest he cried in front of some kid.

"Cas, our Exo friend got a report that their was a Hive wizard here in the steppes. We were to set up a radio beacon and take out the wizard if possible."

"That stupid bolt head.." Han mirthlessly chuckled, his eyes droopy and heavy.

"He suggested that we could rush in and take it out, clean and quick like before the vanguard ordered a strike."

"We were ambushed as soon as we entered. The hive just didn't stop coming and...when Cas fell Maeve suggested we pull back so we draw the heat away from his ghost. We had just gotten out when we saw the wizard engulf it with its darkness..."

"Maeve...she released her light in a way I've never seen. Hordes were decimated in seconds as we drove through them to get to that bastard."

"We pushed in anger and didn't realize how much time it took. Maeve ran out of the travelers power and..."

Han began to choke up on his words as he recalled the event that took the person closest to him. Tears were just on the verge of spilling out when Alex asked a befuddling question.

"Where is it...the wizard?"

"What?...why...why do you want to know kid?"

Alex stared at him not answering, not that he needed to. Han knew exactly why the boy wanted to know. It was the same reason Han was holed up in the rundown building.

"No...no way in hell you idiot! Did you not just hear a word of what I said!? Veteran hunters that I personally knew! That have killed thousands! They died!...you haven't haven't even breathed the same air as me for less than a day and yet already you want to do something that will stop you from ever drawing breath again!"

Han had stood up and gripped the hem of Alex's cowl pulling the boy close enough to see the aged man's stubble. A look of fury and regret beseeched his features.

Alex slowly grabbed the man's hand and pulled it off his apparel staring the man down with his icy gaze.

"I'd rather die trying to avenge my friends with honor, than live in regret of their sacrifice waiting for another to avenge them."

Alex nudged the now quiet man away from him and made his way to the doorway, Angel softly humming above him.

"Your a hunter...yet you cower like a wounded prey. I still don't know why the Traveler chose me, much less who I am...but I know I'm no runner. I don't care if I have to find the son of a bitch on my own."

Angel dissolved into Alex as the young man unholstered his hand cannon at his waist. "If I die...at least it'll be in the service of others"

"YOU SHUT THE HELL UP BASTARD!!" Hans fist impacted the wall next to him causing the wall to groan, a testament to the aged man's strength.

"You have no right!...none to judge me and call me a coward. You have no idea the horrors in that cave I faced. You are no hunter...just a child puffing out his chest" Han snarled out at Alex, his gloved leather hands scrunching up in pure anger.

Alex grinned as his visor formed inside his cowl masking his face. "This child is about to go do a man's job then. Would you care to accompany him?"

A grunt and the loading of a rifle was the only confirmation he got from the furious hunter.

--———————————--

'Did you really have to antagonize the poor man like that? I know you were just trying to get him to join you but still...it wasn't very kind' Angel spoke with a hint of scolding inside Alex's mind.

The man was quiet as he led them to the cave where he lost his family. Only speaking when a patrol needed to be taken out or to answer simple questions.

'I don't know...I myself didn't really feel good about it but..some people need a nudge, others need a kick in the ass. I think Han fell under the latter'

They had passed by Alex's ship roughly a mile or so ago. Han had commented on it saying that while it was a "Dumb as shit" idea, he could get it flying again when done with the wizard.

Speaking of...

A howling scream bellowed from ahead of Alex sending shards of ice through his veins. His grip tightened around his cannon as an almost shaky breath left his lips.

"What...was that..." Alex whispered out, his eyes on Hans tensed shoulders.

"That..that was what killed my brother and wife kid."

The mouth of a pitch black cave was in front of them, the source of where that terrible wail emitted from.

"Ghost, can you get me a reading on the hive inside?" A red and yellow ghost weaved itself into existence in front of Han, it's blue lense staring into abyssal dark.

And the darkness stared back, baring it's teeth as almost ghoulish looking creatures began to creep out of the caves entrance.

"Angel...what the hell are those..." Alex half whispered half yelled as he readied his cannon.

"Thrall...the plague of the Hive kind" Angel robotically seethed as she transmitted into reality.

"Han when you said you killed hundreds of these things..."

"I told you kid...the dark has claws that will shred the very light in your soul should you let it.."

Han lowered his hand as a bright light settled in his palm. He clenched it tightly before throwing it into the vile mass of thrall.

The light plunged into the dark on its descent causing the creatures below to screech and yowl in various tones. It only got worse when the solar light exploded outwards into a sea of flames.

A symphony of dreadful wails filled the tunnel as the thralls burned in the holy flame. The blast area filled the majority of the entrance, however those that escaped the radius raced towards the awaiting Han.

Shaws rifle kicked back as a thundering bullet pierced through 4 of the ghoulish fiends causing an aftershock onto those close. With a single shot a dozen of them fell.

"Woah.." Alex looked at Han in a new light now. He had bashed the older man previously in hopes to get the veteran to help him, but had no clue he was poking a sleeping bear.

"Don't let them overwhelm you kid. They go down easy but if you let them swarm you it's over understand." Han freely gave him advice while calmly reloading his rifle and dispatching another group of Thrall.

"Hey Angel..." Alex thought to his robot companion, a small smile appearing on his face as he rolled the cylinder into into his cannon.

"Yes Alex?"

"I think I might be a battle junkie" Her guardian responded as he leapt into the fray and began dispatching nearby thralls that tried to swarm him.

"Agreed. No normal new light would challenge a swarm of hive"

A large explosion from a thrown solar grenade, courtesy of Alex, only made Angel believe it more.

What followed was an onslaught of Thralls attacking and swarming for what seemed like hours. He wouldn't lie, Alex was scared. However, the fear he felt in his heart would quell under the immense pleasure he took in each thrall that fell from his hand.

"Oi Angel, how much longer t'll I get another fireball?"

Alex smacked a thrall away with the butt of his cannon before kicking out its foreleg and executing it with a headshot.

"If I have to expl- Alex! It's a SOLAR GRENADE! NOT a fireball."

The battle junkie of a hunter groaned as he sliced the throat of a rushing thrall causing it to topple and collapse next to its slowly disintegrating brethren. Alex then hurled the knife into the chest of a distant one near Han causing a small implosion of the beast. It's flaming blood covered others scorching their bodies and making them stumble and fall before Han, their wails and shrieks filling the tunnel.

"Huh...neat. Didn't know that could happen"

"Decent throw kid" Han commended the young hunter as he mowed through a dozen or so more thralls with his sub machine gun.

"Practice aiming for the head, if you can nail em with a killshot you'll get a much bigger explosion." The veteran hunter explained as he nimbly threw his own knife impaling a rushing thrall between the eyes. It's closed slits bled a white light for a moment before it's body was engulfed in hot flames searing and exploding its nearby hive brothers.

"We...have so much to learn Maverick"

Alex rolled his eyes before running back into the horde, his animatronic friend releasing a mechanical giggle.

...

...

...

...

It must've been close to about an hour or so later that our heros were still in a firefight with hivekind. Alex's kill count measuring well above the thousands along with Han, a commendable achievement for a rookie hunter.

However, the duo was getting tired. They had progressed far into the mouth and while the Thralls had ceased by the dozens, they still came from all angles. They bled from the cave walls, from above, below, behind, anywhere that Alex's light didn't touch they came from. More than once did he have a close call with the scavengers of the dark.

It wasn't until they came upon an open area, a substation from the old world as Angel described it, that things took a change.

"Something...feels wrong here Han. Like we shouldn't be here."

Alex voiced his thoughts as a cold chill ran down his neck tickling his spine. His grip tightened around his hand cannon as his eyes searched the old railways.

"I know kid...I feel it too. It's the darkness. Everything you've fought up to now doesn't matter. You can be brought back again and again, but here...there is no reset button."

"Wait...what do you mean?" Alex looked at the grizzled man incredulously.

" What he means.." Angel transmitted herself in small notes of blue light fluttering around the young man.

"When you enter a space that has been flooded by the malice and hate of a dark being or creation, the travelers light can't reach you. Us ghosts can't utilize the Traveler's light when in the face of overwhelming darkness. Only the guardians can. When the presence is gone then we can bring you back if something happens. I Can still shield you and heal you like I have been...but I can't bring you back if you die Alex."

Angels mechanical voice had a somber edge to it. No not an edge but, almost in a worrying way. Like how a mother would their son.

Han sighed as he loaded his rifle once more looking over the banister they approached. He motioned Alex over, the young guardian still mulling over their words.

Alex looked just below and could make out a form of something so supernatural and horrifying not even his nightmares would be able to conjure it.

A towering creature covered in red and white robing floated off the ground, arc energy flickering near its feet. It was still, so still you'd think it was a mannequin if not for the robes fluttering from an unknown wind or pressure.

"What...is that?" Alex whispered out as he crouched behind the sheet metal bannister. The ice in his veins resembled that of tundra frost, his gloved hands likely blue from his blood going still.

"A hive wizard. An abomination given form. They have many titles but all my hate. They are the ones that create the Thralls. If the miscreants we killed were the plague of hive kind, than what we face is the disease that spreads them."

The robes ceased moving as the head of the creature slowly looked up. There were no eyes that met Alex's own, just a cruel blackened smile. The things curved and horned helm seemingly glowed green through small slits giving an omninous look. It's hands cracked through boney skin as it's frozen state was broken. And it began to slowly stalk towards them.

"Han...what does this mean..."

The man stood challenging with a fierce hate in his eyes staring down the abomination that took his happiness.

"You have a choice Alex. You can't escape now with how far down we made it so now you have to be committed. You got me this far...now I need you to do the same..."

Han took aim at the creatures helmet, the beast not flinching.

"Either win and live with honor, or die with Glory"

Han fired

And Hell opened its maw.