"It worked! You're alive!" The first thing that came to my vision was a bunch of rusted cars surrounding me and... a little floating ball. It blinked at me in surprise as I stared at it. "You don't know how long I've been looking for you!"

"Wh-what...?" I was in a world of confusion. My head felt so heavy, as if it was being pounded with a jack hammer. I couldn't keep my bearings straight and nearly tipped over, at least that's what it felt like. I stood firm as I began to get a much clearer vision of my surroundings. I didn't know where I was, but I feel like the floating thing in front of me was going to clear that up soon.

"I'm a Ghost. Actually, now I'm YOUR Ghost. And you..." I looked down to see my hands but what greeted me were gloves. Armor? Noticing it closer, it felt like my entire body was covered from head to toe in armor but my vision was completely unobstructed.

"Well you've been dead a long time. So you're going to see a lot of things you wont understand."

"Well, honestly that's par for the course. I mean, where are we... Ghost? As in like, a reviving 'Ghost' Ghost?" I asked. Although I didn't play Destiny with my father, I did know a few things about the lore and I knew that Ghosts were the ones that revived Guardians. Wait, does that mean I'm..?

"Wait... How... How did you know that, Guardian?" The Ghost asked. It looked at me up and down, perplexed? "Did another Ghost already try to revive you? From all of the scans I've done, you haven't been. But you're definitely my Gua-"

The Ghost was cutoff as we both heard a blood curling scream in the distance. It sounded completely alien and nothing like I've ever heard before.

"What was that?" I nearly shouted at him.

Without hesitating, the Ghost pressed its body against my helmet and made a "shh" sound. "This is Fallen territory. We aren't safe here." He looked around and tried to get a layout of the land. "I have to get you to the city."

"The city? Oh! The main hub, right?" I said, chiming up.

The Ghost whizzed back at me and looked annoyed. "Seriously, how do you know all of this? It doesn't matter. Hold still." He floated towards me and disappeared.

I looked around in astonishment. "Ghost? Where are you?"

"Don't worry, I'm still with you. We have to move. Fast."

Confused, I saw an icon pop up in the distance. It looked so seamless and didn't feel out of place. "We wont last long out in the open like this. Lets get inside the wall."

I didn't question the Ghost. I began to sprint towards the wall, confused as hell as to why I am out here. "Hmm I knew that Destiny was supposed to be a fun game, but I didn't expect it to be this surreal!" I said.

"What do you mean by that, Guardian? You keep mentioning something about 'Destiny'. It's beginning to get a bit jarring..."

"You're telling me, Ghost. Say, is that your name? Ghost?"

"Uh, well that is what I am, yes. As for names, I don't think I've ever gotten one. I've always went by 'Ghost' so I feel better being called that."

"Sounds good, Ghost. I'm Hanabi Valiente, but you can just call me Hana."

"Okay. Hana it is."

It felt a bit weird talking to someone who wasn't really there with me, but I guess it was a similar feeling as talking to someone on the phone. Just a lot more clear.

On the side of the wall was an old rusted door. I went through it and went up a few stairs. It was beginning to get dark and feel more ominous. I guess the developers really wanted this to be a horror-esque setting for the first mission.

"Ok... I need to find you a weapon before the Fallen find us."

"Fallen... Fallen... Ah, I think I remember. The little ant-like aliens, right?"

"Okay Hana. We seriously need to talk about how you know all of this later, but not now." Ghost said. I think he was winding up another retort before he hushed himself. "Quiet. They're right above us."

Before I could speak up, I heard the pitter patter and scraping of claw against metal right above me. The instant I heard it I felt my heart drop. "Damn... This is getting a bit too real for my liking." I said.

"Well it is real, Hana." Ghost said.

Going up another set of stairs, we made our way to a large opening. It was dark but I noticed a light coming from just above me. "Ghost?"

"Hang tight. Fallen thrive in the dark, we won't. We need more light. I'll see what I can do."

"Well from where I'm standing, you'd need a lot more light for us." I said, looking over the large empty darkness in front of me.

As Ghost started to float away, I saw shadows moving in the distance. "Uh... How's the light situation going?"

"It's going... Hmm... Another one of these hardened military systems... And a few centuries of entropy working against me."

With a few clicks, the lights began to come on one by one. "Ghost, you did it!" And in the process alerted all the Fallen in the vicinity to a lone Guardian standing with her pants down. "Ghost! You did this!"

"Sorry sorry! They're coming for us!"

A metal grate began to open and I immediately took to get under it. "Here! I found a rifle! Grab it."

The rifle looked like a typical assault rifle and quite honestly it seemed old and battered. But anything was better than nothing, I suppose.

I grabbed it and was expecting it to be a bit light due to having had a toy gun when I was younger, but this felt different. This felt real. It felt... heavy.

A small icon appeared in the top right corner of my vision. 'Khvostov 7G-02'. It must have been the name of the gun.

"I hope you know how to use that thing." Ghost said.

"You and me both, Ghost. This is definitely going to be very different from just playing on a controller."

Ghost sighed, his patience clearly wearing thin on my way of talking, but that didn't matter right now. What mattered was moving forward with this rifle to get out of here.

Although I wasn't sprinting, it did feel as if I was moving faster than just a normal walk. "Eyes forward. Watch your tracker."

In the top left was a compass like icon that displayed movement. I think? It was hard to see without any good light. I saw red pings on the map and decided to make a turn in the hallway.

Out of nowhere a Fallen dreg and vandal appeared and screeched in my face. It my surprise, I yelped out of fear and squeezed the trigger. I was not expecting what happened next.

The recoil of the gun knocked me clean off my feet and sent me tumbling down. I landed on my ass and seeing the Fallen approach me with their lightning spears, I began to back up in an almost pathetic way.

"Guardian! Guardian! Pull yourself together, Guardian!"

"I'm trying! This thing isn't as easy as it looks!"

I grabbed the rifle again and held it firm this time, shooting the entire clip down the hall. I was lucky that the Fallen were only tutorial based level because almost all of my shots missed.

The click of the rifle told me that the magazine was empty. I searched around my body and found that the ammo was nowhere to be seen. "Uh... How do I...?"

"Ammo comes from your reserves, Hana. Although it isn't hard to replicate with the matter we find on the field. You just have to think about it. It's all right there on your person."

I gave what Ghost said a thought and closed my eyes. Thinking of where I would put the ammo, I reached behind and closed my hands. But my fingers didn't meet.

Instead, what stopped them was a brand new magazine topped off with bullets. "Oh wow! That's very handy." I popped the magazine into the weapon and pulled back on the bolt. "Okay. This is going to get some getting used to, but I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Well for both of our sakes, Hana, I do hope we can get out of here."

We continued on, more Fallen blocking our path. I had not gotten used to the recoil, so I took my time and shot in controlled bursts. My aim was not getting better, but thank god I had a nearly bottomless supply of ammo.

"Hana, over there! A loot cache"

I turned my head to where Ghost pinged a weird looking chest. "Huh... That's neat. Lets see what's inside!"

We opened the cache and it was topped to the brim with some shiny blue cubes. They all disappeared almost instantly and an icon appeared where the Khvostov appeared. 'Calcutta-LR2'.

"A sniper...?" I switched my rifle and pulled out the sniper. It felt even heavier than the Khvostov. "Ghost... Is this...?"

"Yeah, same concept, Hana. Although the matter used for the ammo is rarer so there wont be an abundance of ammo for it. Make the shots count, Hana."

"Right..." I did the same and grabbed a box of ammo and slapped it inside the sniper. I cocked the bolt back and continued on.

Getting to a long corridor, Ghost chimed up. "Tripmines! Don't touch them!" Beams of red light were scattered all over the corridor. I did my best to avoid them, ducking under them in a crawl.

It was a bad idea. A group of Fallen ambushed us. I stayed in my prone position and began firing.

Bullets flew and the casings fell to my side as I did my best to aim for the dregs. A few were unlucky enough to trigger the tripmines and found themselves blown up.

That's when I noticed something a bit off. The game was rated 'T' and didn't say anything about blood gore or intense violence. And yet, seeing the dreg get blown up with such vivid detail and intensity made my stomach churn.

"Oh god... That's definitely not a pretty sight." I said.

"No, it isn't, Hana. It's a warzone out here." Ghost said somberly.

I took in a deep breath and loaded the rifle again, standing up and doing my best. The dregs fell one by one until the corridor was empty again.

Going even further into the wall's interior, we found ourselves standing in an open area with a large hole in the wall. "Ghost? Where to?"

"Lets see... Hana, lookout!" Another group of dregs and vandals jumped on us. Their bullets began to hit me but I didn't feel hurt at all. Just felt as if there was an outside pressure pushing against me. I ducked behind cover and readied my sniper.

"Ghost? Why don't their bullets hurt me?"

"You have an overshield powered by your Light. Normal bullets wont do much but take enough damage and even that will break away."

"I see... So just don't get hit?"

"That would be an excellent course of action to take."

I aimed my sniper and took out a dreg with a body shot. The recoil was monumental, something I didn't expect from such a weapon. I buckled down and readied my next shot. "Ghost. Any ideas where to next?"

"There's a service tunnel on the side over there. Clear the way and we can make our way out this Cosmodrome."

I did as Ghost told me. I cleared the way and began to make my way outside.

Standing outside, I saw Russian words and put two and two together. "We're in Russia?"

"Old Russia. One of the first places to fall during the collapse." Ghost said. "And nearly picked clean by the Fallen. There's got to be something we can fly out here."

"Collapse?" I asked.

"Oh, finally something you don't know."

"Mira, I'm doing the best I can to keep up, okay? There's a logical explanation to all of this, I'm sure, but right now-"

"Hold that thought! Incoming!"

A bright shinning light erupted in the night sky and from it came a huge ship that looked as if it was made from spare parts. "Fallen ships! This close to the surface?!"

"Are they not supposed to be this close?" I asked.

"No! This is real bad, Hana. We have to get back to the city ASAP!"

I began to haul ass. I gunned down as many Fallen as I could, sustaining a bunch of damage in the process but it seemed that my overshield was incredibly strong. "Wow. This is all too much for me, but I'm getting the hang of this Guardian business, I think." I said.

"You're a natural, Hana! With a bit more experience, I'm sure you'll be a great-"

Before Ghost could finish his sentence, I felt a strange sensation. Incredibly, I felt an immense power boil inside of my stomach. Something powerful.

"Oh!" Ghost chimed up.

"What's happening? Ghost?"

"It's the Light, Hana. It's coursing through you!" I didn't understand what Ghost was saying but he continued anyway. "The Light is the most powerful weapon in the universe, Guardian. With it, you can summon powers of immense magnitude!"

"What are you talking about, Ghost? I don't feel..." A group of dregs came from nowhere and started shooting at us. I ducked behind a crate and readied my rifle.

"Hana! Use the Light! Harness it's power!" Ghost sounded excited and wanted me to desperately do something.

"I don't know what to do!"

"Follow your instinct! You can do it!"

I took a breath and did what Ghost told me. I 'harnessed' what was boiling inside of me and what came to me was... "A grenade?"

Ghost wasn't out here, but I could imagine him just staring at me with excitement. "Well don't just hold it! Throw it!"

I gave a throw of the grenade, chucking it as hard as I possibly could and it landed at the feet of the dregs. I ducked behind cover again and heard the explosion.

The heat of the room increased significantly as the explosion went off. Look up from the crate, I found that there was nothing there. No exploded dreg parts or anything.

"What happened? Did they just disappear?"

"No, Hana. That was a grenade made from solar energy. Nuclear forces of destruction and creation. It's some seriously powerful stuff."

"I see..." I got back up from the crate and inspected my surroundings. Just as Ghost said, anything that was in the vicinity was just vaporized. It made me feel ill but I pressed on.

"There's a ship! Clear them out!" A group of Fallen were surrounding an old ship. Doing my best, I began to shoot them down, clearing out the room one by one.

I did my best and over the course of a few magazines, the room was cleared. "Great... That should be all of them."

Ghost appeared again and floated over to the ship. "It's been here awhile. Hasn't made a jump in centuries. We're lucky the Fallen haven't completely picked it clean."

"Will it fly?" I asked.

With a confident look, Ghost nodded. "I can make it work."

Ghost disappeared into the ship. The ship began to come alive and it made a loud rumbling noise as the turbines began to get speed. It grew louder and louder until the ship began to float in place.

"Okay... It's not going to break orbit, but it just might get us to the City." Ghost yelled out. "Now... About that transmat..."

Hearing a roar behind me, I turned around and saw two vandals coming out of a hole in the wall. Along with a larger, more menacing looking Fallen. I felt my skin run cold as I readied my rifle, but before I could shoot, I felt myself disappearing into the ship. "Brining you in!"

The inside of the ship was cramped and felt rustic. I didn't touch any of the controls and let Ghost fly the thing. "Thanks for that... I don't think I could've taken them out."

"We can come back for them when you're ready. Let's get you home."

Breathing a sigh of relief, I felt myself hold steady and watch as views of Earth swooped by us and a fast pace.

It was odd. I'm sure that this was the first mission of the campaign of the game, and yet it felt as if I was still in game. No loading screens or anything.

It didn't feel right. "Umm... Ghost?" I asked, not expecting a real response.

"Yes Hana? What is it?"

Weird.

"So... This... This is all real?"

"Ah, philosophy. Not my strongest suit. Umm... Well, as real as it can get, Hana. It is incredibly dangerous out there and we have to keep on our toes about it all."

"I see. Wow... This is just a bit too much to take in, I guess. Never knew 'Destiny' would be this in depth about stuff."

"There you go again!" Ghost chimed up. "What exactly is 'Destiny', Guardian? I've ran multiple searches for what you might be referring to and the only things that come up are movies from the pre golden age and even then its few and sparse in between."

"Sorry, I'm sorry." I said. "I'm just mumbling about stuff... This... Well this whole world as I know it is a game. A game my dad and I..."

I felt myself grow somber. Dad... Is he going to be okay? I made plans to visit him tomorrow right after school. I do hope that this all night gaming wasn't going to hinder my sleeping.

"Hana, are you alright? You and I share a neural interface to each other, so you and I feel each other's emotions. And right now, you seem absolutely distraught."

"I am, Ghost. I... I don't know what I'm going to do."

I sighed as Ghost floated next to me. "Well, I'm here, Hana. You and I? We're partners now. So you don't ever have to hide anything from me."

"Thank you, Ghost. Thank you..." I held out my hands and Ghost landed on my palms. I brought him closer to me and gave him a small hug to my face.

We stayed like that for a while before Ghost chimed up. "We're here!"

Once we broke through a cloud, the Last City was in full view. It was a beautiful and large city, but what caught my attention was the large floating orb in the sky. It looked broken and scattered, almost injured I could say.

"That's the Traveler. The protector of humanity and where the Light comes from. Did you already know that?" Ghost asked.

"No... I didn't..." I looked up in amazement as we circled back towards what could only be described as a tower on top of a large wall.

The ship flew by the tower and I found myself standing on top of solid ground again. "Welcome o the last safe city on Earth. The only place the Traveler can still protect... It took centuries to build... and now we're counting every day it stands."

Ghost turned around and showed me all the other people in the tower, comparing guns, talking to each other, and having similar but more pronounced armor than I did. "And this Tower is where the Guardians live. Come on, I'll take you to talk to the vanguard."

I walked with Ghost, seeing how everyone was turning their heads to me and kept calling out to me.

"Hey! A new light! Sano, come check this out!"

"She seems awfully tiny... Maybe a hunter?"

"Nah, look at how shy she's being! Gotta be a warlock!"

"New blood! Go check out the foundries! We'll go on some patrols later, aye?"

I started my walk a bit faster to keep to myself. "Lot of friendly people in the Tower, isn't there?" I said chuckling nervously.

"Oh, sure! Most Guardians stick together when they're here, but no one is as welcoming as the vanguard!"

"Yeah, right... And who's the vanguard again?"

"Ikora Rey, the warlock vanguard. Cayde-6, the hunter vanguard. And Commander Zavala the titan vanguard and the leader of the Tower. We want to talk to them first before we head out again."

"Okay, Ikora... Cayde... Zavala... Ikora... Cayde... Zavala... Ikora..."

"Yes? Is there something you need, new light?"

I yelped in surprise as I received a response to my mumbling. From the three people standing in front of me, I assumed that they were the vanguard, but being caught off guard like this made me a fumbling mess.

"I-It's a pleasure to meet y'all! Mucho gusto! Hajimemashite!" I bowed down at a perfect 90 degree angle as my Ghost chuckled nervously.

"Ahaha... She's uh... She wasn't like this when she first got revived." Ghost floated right next to my head and whispered harshly. "What are you doing? Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Nandemonai, Ghost." I said nervously.

The woman laughed and put her hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw a warm smile emanating from her. "It's okay, new light. You don't have to be so high strung around here."

I stood back up and nervously patted my head. "Sorry. I just get so nervous around figure heads and didn't know how to respond." I said.

"She's going to be a fun one. Hey Zavala, you mind I take this one and show her the ropes?" The robatic man said to the blue man.

"Not on your life, Cayde. We need you here in the tower to provide guidance for hunters. Speaking of. Ghost, do you know what class she is?"

Ghost shook his head. "No, sir. She displayed no clear signs of any class from our fist excursion out in the Cosmodrome."

"I see..." Zavala said quietly. He waved his hand to me. "Do you mind taking off your helmet, Guardian. I can discern better when I meet someone in their eyes."

"Umm... Sure. How do I..."

"Just transmat it off. Here, I'll show you." Ghost said.

Ghost shined a light on me and in a flash, I felt the cool air brush against my face. My medium long hair fell down and I could clearly see everything again. "Oh, wow that's much better. That helmet was really stuffy."

But as I looked at the vanguard, all of their eyes were dead locked on mine. "Umm.. Is there something on my face?"

"You're..." Cayde and Ikora said in unison.

It was Zavala who broke the tension of why everyone was staring at me.

"You're just a child..."