Ezra was speechless, for one of the very few times he had been rendered so. As Ikora, with some help from Zavala and Cayde-6, told him of the Golden Age of this galaxy's humanity and its advancements, Ezra could only nod, as his mind was too overwhelmed for most types of thought.
"This is…just incredible," he thought. "I can't even believe that I'm in another galaxy, hearing about all this. I wonder though…"
"It seemed like the Golden Age would last forever…but nothing ever does." Ikora said, drawing Ezra's attention back to her. "One day, signals from the outer reaches of the system began to fail, and then fell silent. As humanity wondered what was going on, no one knew that this day would mark the beginning of the Collapse."
"Four alien races came to Sol, each for their own reasons, and laid waste to the Sol System, accompanied by the Paracausal force known as the Darkness. Whereas the Traveler and its Light brought prosperity and life, the Darkness aimed to extinguish all that it saw." Zavala added. "One by one, our worlds fell to the Darkness, leaving behind only death and destruction."
"The first of these races was the Eliksni, who are more commonly called the Fallen." Ikora said, as Ophiuchus displayed a hologram of a House of Devils' Dreg, Vandal, and Captain. "They are expert machinists and engineers. We know that their race was once visited by the Traveler, but it left them, and their homeworld was then destroyed by the Darkness. After this event, called the "Whirlwind", the Eliksni came to Sol to reclaim the Traveler, and for one reason or another, they see us as their enemy."
"Furthermore, they have twice attacked the City itself, first during the Battle of Six Fronts, and then on the tundra of Twilight Gap. During that battle, three Fallen sects, the Houses of Devils, Winter, and Kings joined their forces together in an attempt to bring ruin to the City." Zavalal added. "The deeds of many Guardians, such as Lord Shaxx and his fireteam, the legendary Titan Saint-14, and many others are told and retold countless times because of that battle. However, many Guardians died their final deaths on that day."
"Final deaths?" Ezra asked. "You've…died before? How is that even possible?"
"Guardians, when they are chosen by their Ghost and given the Light, are resurrected from the dead. They lose all their memories of who they were before, however. As long as the Light is with a Guardian, they are practically immortal." Ikora clarified. "I have lived for countless lifetimes, and died just as many times. Zavala and I were there to help place the first stones that would later become the walls of the Last City that you see now."
"There are drawbacks, however, but those are best discussed another time." Ikora continued, seeing Ezra's confused expression. "The next race we encountered is the Vex Collective. The Vex are a machine race, with such advanced technology that they can exert a powerful hold over time and space."
"Not a complete hold, though." Cayde-6 chimed in. "Otherwise they'd have won already and just erased us all from existence."
"Quite right." Ikora nodded. "The Vex despise anything that isn't Vex, and are capable of transforming any sort of matter into their own technology. They did this to the entirety of the planet Mercury, turning it from a garden world into another cog in their Collective in only a few days. They would've done this to other worlds, but the Traveler stopped them."
"The Vex are also obsessed with order and simulation, even across multiple timelines." Zavala added. "It is nearly always the case that when the Vex do anything, they simulate that action over and over again countless times, until they find their desired ending. They then drive everything they have towards achieving that goal."
"How do you even fight something that powerful?" Ezra asked, completely astounded. "Wouldn't you always lose?"
"That is not always the case, Ezra." Ikora replied. "The Vex are extremely rigid in tactics, and more often than not, taking out their Minds often scatters them and forces them to withdraw. They also cannot simulate being imbued with the Light or the Darkness. The nature of such paracausal forces makes them work directly against the powers the Vex use."
"They even call us "Those who wield that which we cannot simulate". Zavala added. "Vex simulations can kill, but they can be broken free from easily if one knows how to do so."
"And you would know that?" Ezra raised an eyebrow.
"You could say that, as my mentor, the Warlock Osiris, is the first and foremost when it comes to all things related to the Vex." Ikora replied. "He was exiled from the City long ago…but his followers preserved a vast amount of his knowledge, and donated it to the Vanguard archives."
"Anyway, we now turn to the Cabal." Zavala continued. "The Cabal are, simply, put, eight hundred pounds on average, completely militarized, and capable of destroying planets and moons for getting in their way. They managed to conquer the planet Mars during the Collapse, and buried the city of Freehold while doing so."
"The Cabal are an enigma, as little is known about their language or who even rules or leads their race. We do know that without victory, they are forbidden from returning to their homeworld." Ikora chimed in. "We've eliminated many of their top commanders, but they continue to regroup under new ones."
"Yeah, they're really persistent, and on top of that, we don't even know why they came to Sol. There's a few reasons we've floated, most of them being related to their forward bases, but nothing ever seems to stick." Cayde-6 said. "For now, they're mostly occupied with shooting at us and the Vex on Mars."
Ezra nodded, took another drink from his glass, and sighed in relief at feeling his dry throat be soothed by the beverage.
"What's the last one?" he asked.
"The Hive." Ikora said. "The Hive are a race sworn to the Darkness, just as we serve the Light. Their kind revolves around a central belief called Sword Logic. Simply put, by killing other beings, they must become more powerful, otherwise they will be consumed."
"They worship…death?" Ezra asked, shocked. "Am I understanding that correctly?"
"In simpler terms, yes. Some Hive have grown so powerful, they have communed with the Darkness itself, and become gods in the Hive pantheon." Zavala continued. "First among them was Oryx, the Taken King, and his sisters. They were followed by the God-Prince Crota, and many others."
"However, when a fireteam of six Guardians slew Crota in the Ascendant Realm with his own sword, a beacon went out across the stars. Oryx heeded the call, and came to exert vengeance on those that had slain his son. Later, after he was banished from our realm following a large-scale conflict, the same two fireteams that killed Crota also slew the Taken King. His two sisters are still out there, but we know little to nothing about them."
"That's correct. There are still many dangerous things born out in the dark, and every moment brings them closer to our home." Ikora chimed in. "We know our fight may not end anytime soon, but should we fail, all that remains will be lost."
"That's our story, or a good chunk of it." Cayde-6 nodded. "Oh, by the way, it seems our second survivor is out of intensive care. He's on his way here, and being escorted by four of Shaxx's Redjacks."
"Thrawn…right." Ezra sighed in frustration, as he had secretly been hoping that the Grand Admiral in question would not survive the crash.
"So that is his name? Thrawn?" Zavala asked.
"Yes, Grand Admiral Thrawn if you want to get more specific." Ezra huffed, making Ikora raise an eyebrow in curiosity. Judging from his tone of voice, the young man had some bad blood with this Grand Admiral.
"I assume there's some history between you two?" Cayde-6 asked, mirroring Ikora's mental suspicions.
"Yeah, plenty." Ezra sighed. "Isn't that right, Thrawn?"
The three Vanguard representatives turned to see four Redjacks standing nearby, and a blue-skinned humanoid with red-shadowed, maroon eyes, wearing some hospital clothing over his dirtied uniform.
"Indeed, Commander Bridger." Thrawn replied. "I suppose now it is our turn to explain our history, and the same of our own galaxy, am I correct?"
"Yes." Zavala replied. "Whenever you are ready."
"Very well. I believe a good place to begin…would be the days of the old Republic…near the beginning of the conflict known as the Clone Wars…"
"…with the death of Count Dooku during the battle of Coruscant, leadership of the Confederacy of Independent Systems was sufficiently transferred to General Grievous, and soon, the Outer Rim Sieges would begin. Republic Clone forces and their Jedi Generals would be deployed across the galaxy to strike the final blow against the Separatists."
"However, during these campaigns, such as on Felucia, Mygeeto, Kashyyyk, and Mandalore, the Jedi Council discovered that the Chancellor Palpatine of the Republic was in fact the Sith Lord they had been searching for throughout the entire war." Thrawn said, making Zavala raise an eyebrow. "Four Jedi Masters, Mace Windu, Agen Kolar, Saesee Tiin, and Kit Fisto, were sent to arrest him."
"In the ensuing duel, Palpatine, or Darth Sidious, slew Kolar, Tiin, and FIsto. However, as Master Windu prepared to strike the Chancellor down, having gained the upper hand in combat…a young Jedi Knight named Anakin Skywalker intervened. Skywalker had been mentored just as much by the Chancellor as his fellow Jedi, and in desperation…Anakin turned to the Dark Side of the Force, and disabled Master WIndu."
"He betrayed the Jedi?" Ikora asked, horrified. Through Thrawn's earlier testimony, he had detailed the many heroic exploits of Anakin Skywalker, his Padawn Ahsoka Tano, the Clone Captain Rex, and the 501st Legion.
"Yes, and in doing so, became a Sith Lord himself." Thrawn continued. "As Anakin was reborn as the Sith Lord Darth Vader, Palpatine issued a directive to every Clone in the Galaxy to turn on their Jedi Generals and execute them as traitors to the Republic. Officially known as Executive Order 66, nearly every Clone, upon receiving this order, obeyed it."
"How?" Cayde-6 sounded horrified. "Those Clones fought alongside the Jedi for years, you told us that yourself. Why did they do this?"
"Because they had control chips in their heads that made them do it." Ezra countered, drawing the room's attention to him. "They didn't have a choice at the time. I also noticed, Thrawn, that you said "nearly" every Clone obeyed. There were a few Clones that didn't follow the order and had their chips removed."
"Indeed." Thrawn nodded. "Captain Rex was able to break free from the control chip's influence, due to the efforts of Ahsoka Tano during the siege of Mandalore. However, nearly the entire Jedi Order that were deployed away from Coruscant was wiped out in the span of only a few hours."
"Afterward, Lord Vader led the 501st Legion up the entranceway of the Jedi Temple, and began the Great Jedi Purge." Thrawn continued. "Very few survived the attack, and of those few, more were hunted down in the weeks to come. Thus, the Republic was reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, under the rule of Emperor Palpatine and Lord Vader."
"Years would pass, and though there were cells of rebels that rose up and resisted, many were destroyed. However, there was also another threat, that there were still Jedi that survived the Purge among the Galaxy, and the Children of the Force."
"Children of the Force?" Zavala asked.
"Yes, there were those among the people of the Galaxy that were sensitive to the Force, but were not raised as Jedi during the days of the Order. Remember, Commander, that all Jedi were Force-sensitive, but not all Force-sensitives became Jedi." Thrawn nodded. "Some were found and joined the Imperial Inquisitorius. These Inquisitors hunted down the remaining Jedi, and some were even former Jedi themselves that fell to the Dark Side."
Zavala gave a quiet "Hmm", and motioned for Thrawn to continue.
"Now, about fourteen years after the rise of the Empire, on the Planet Lothal in the Outer Rim..a cell of Rebels known as the Spectres would begin causing trouble for the Imperial government and garrison…and that is where Commander Bridger's story begins." Thrawn finished.
Ezra sighed, took another drink of Sprite, and began to speak.
"It was a typical day on Lothal, and I was just another rat on the streets, trying to survive…but I ended up interfering in a mission the Spectres were on…one thing kind of led to another, and from that day forward…I joined the crew of the Rebel ship Ghost, and I began to learn the ways of the Jedi from my master, Kanan Jarrus."…
"I see." Zavala mused as Ezra finished telling his story, which concluded with the battle of Lothal and their disappearance into hyperspace aboard the Chimera. "And that Hyperspace Jump led you here to the Last City."
"Pretty much." Ezra replied.
Zavala was silent for several moments, and both Thrawn and Ezra turned to Ikora and Cayde, who also stayed silent, knowing that the Titan Vanguard was thinking hard about what to do regarding the new arrivals.
"Alright, I have a proposition for you both." Zavala finally spoke. "The Consensus may have some words with me regarding this, but I will allow you both to remain here in the Last City for now."
"However, you will be confined for the Tower for now, and you must remain under the supervision of a Guardian until we can officially find accommodations for you. Furthermore, I expect there not to be any disturbances from your presence here."
"Am I understood?"
"Yes." Thrawn and Ezra replied.
"Good. For now, remain here. Grand Admiral, the Redjacks will escort you to an adjacent room. If you need anything, the comms unit on your bed will alert us." Ikora nodded. "Seeing as we've spent most of the day in discussion, we must return to our duties without delay."
As the three Vanguard representatives departed, alongside the Redjacks and Thrawn, Ezra hooked Kanan's lightsaber to his belt and leaned back into his bed. Son, he was asleep as the sun began to set over the Last City.