Season of the Risen

The fireteam of three sat around a campfire, some distance away from their destination. Zavala had assigned them to rendezvous with an Imperial strike team, handpicked by Empress Caiatl, to investigate the emergence of another Lucent Brood hold in the EDZ. Their job was to patrol the area and eliminate any hostile prior to entry.

For now though, they were relaxing after a rather uneventful day. The cackling of the campfire piercing through the forest ambience. Small moments like these were getting harder to come by these days.

Flux-13 lay on his back with his hands behind his head, looking up at the stars above them, contemplating recent events. Vendrick-5 sat nearby on a log idly strumming his guitar to a pre-Golden Age song. Tonitrus-9 was a bit further away, cooking their dinner.

"I still can't believe the Hive were supposed to be chosen," Flux said.

"Do you feel sympathy for killing them?" Vendrick asked.

"I mean kinda. Killing regular brood members is one thing but actual hive…light bearers? It feels like we're murdering other guardians."

"Simply wielding the Light doesn't make someone good," Tonitrus chimed in. "Remember the stories Lord Saladin has told us?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong," Flux continued. "They still need to be stopped. But what if some of them are like Lord Shaxx?"

Vendrick didn't look up from his guitar. "Then you either need to be very convincing or capture one for Eris. Those indoctrination rituals are no joke, and you know very well that they're dedicated to Savathûn."

"But what if we can find one without that influence? What if we find one that's… similar to our own New Lights?"

Vendrick stopped playing. "That's actually a good question. Though I doubt Commander Zavala will assign us such a mission, and I'm not about to go rogue just to find one."

Flux turned over to look at his friend. "Why not? You've gone rogue for worse stuff than that."

"Even if I did, I don't have the foreknowledge to even start tracking one down. And I'm sure as hell no warlocks are willing to venture with me."

"What about Indra?"

"…OK, maybe him. But Ikora has him on some other assignment-"

Before they could continue the conversation, Tonitrus walked up with three steaming bowls in hand.

"Tonight, I've made triple truffle risotto. I also made extra in case you guys wanted seconds," he said.

"Thanks Tony," they both said before they started eating. The previous conversation having died out.

"Damn. This is really good," Flux said between mouthfuls.

"Thanks, but you say that every time I cook," Tonitrus laughed.

"Yeah, but for real."

"You always say that too."

"Just take the compliment Tony." Vendrick said, butting in.

The three Exos continued to eat, playfully bantering with each other all while the sounds of the nighttime forest rose around them.

"Guys, we need a name." Flux said suddenly.

His friends looked at him quizzically.

"What do you mean?" Tonitrus asked.

"A name. You know, like for our fireteam."

"Why?"

"For missions and stuff. Being called fireteam Young Wolf gets boring after a while and I didn't even come up with the name, everyone just started calling us that."

"You can always check the Vanguard's fireteam registry for ideas," Vendrick suggested.

"I did. And most of them are kinda cringy, like Death Dealers for example."

"Isn't that the fireteam of hunters who are notoriously bad at Crucible?"

"What about something akin to Sierra's fireteam, Epsilon-11?" Tonitrus chimed in.

"No, that sounds too official."

The three of them went back and forth, with Tonitrus and Vendrick suggesting potential names ranging from cool sounding to official and random to goofy. After a couple minutes of throwing names around Flux snapped his fingers.

"I got it!"

"Oh? Pray tell." Tonitrus said.

"I want our team's name to reflect the friendship the three of us share. You know, a name that shows the bond we have."

"That's pretty deep Flux. I didn't know you felt that strongly about it."

"So, what's the name you came up with?" Vendrick asked.

Flux grinned and told them.

"Really?" Vendrick asked in disbelief. "After all that, that's what you came up with?"

"No." Tonitrus said firmly. "We're sticking with fireteam Young Wolf."

"Oh, come on guys, It'll be fun."

"You can't be serious dude." Vendrick said loudly.

Flux's grin grew wider. "But I am. And I'm going to message the Commander right now."

"Ven, stop him!"

Vendrick shot off the log he was sitting on, soaring over the campfire and tackled the titan, trying to gain control of his arms. But like all titans, Flux was able to overpower the nimble hunter.

"Tony, he's really fucking strong. Bind him with your space magic or something."

Tonitrus teleported from his seat to his friends, void light gathering in his hands. Before he could do anything however, Flux threw Vendrick into him, knocking him over. Now free from his friends, Flux quickly started typing on his wrist communicator.

Scrambling to his feet, Tonitrus teleported behind the titan, grabbed his hands, and swept him onto his back.

"Now Ven!"

Vendrick formed a small glacier grenade in his hands. Instead of throwing it however, the hunter jumped on top of Flux and slammed the grenade on his hands, pinning them above his head to the ground. With the titan now immobilized, Tonitrus removed the communicator from his forearm.

"Well?" Vendrick asked.

A quick glance at the holographic screen showed an incomplete message.

Tonitrus smiled. "We're good."

Vendrick let out a sigh of relief before raising an eyebrow ridge at Flux who started laughing.

"Something funny?"

"Great effort guys, but I had Gauss send the message before you jumped me."

"Damn," sighed Vendrick as he slumped in defeat.

"Well that's that," mumbled Tonitrus.

"So Ven, you gonna get off me or do you like using me as a seat?"

Noticing the rather compromising position the two of them were in, Vendrick quickly got up muttering an apology in the process and freed him from his bindings.

Siting in their original positions before their scuffle, they resumed eating.

"You think Zavala will process the request right away?" Vendrick asked.

Tonitrus shrugged. "We'll have to see; I doubt it though. It is pretty late..."

*THE NEXT DAY*

The fireteam approached Bracus Du'urund and his other two team members, the massive Cabal bowing in the process.

"It is an honor to fight alongside you once again. I owe you three my life for saving me on Luna," the Bracus rumbled.

Flux waved his hand dismissively. "Think nothing of it, just doing our job."

"I'll admit, I was hesitant at first," he said as the six of them started walking. "The Empress and your Commander said we'll be working with a fireteam known as G.E.B. I did not realize it was your team."

Flux nodded. "Yup, that's us."

"Compared to some of the other names I've heard, yours is rather odd. What does G.E.B. stand for?"

The second the Bracus asked the question Tonitrus facepalmed while Vendrick proceeded to spin Ace in his hand, pretending not to listen.

Flux grinned. "Good Exo Boys."