The sun is high in the sky as we stalk through the thick jungle of the planetoid Nessus, far off the beaten path that the other Guardians use and that defective A.I. watches, ensuring we aren't disturbed while we carry out the work the Vanguard can't.
We are here hunting a Titan named Sava Yeat. A Wannabe Dregen now going by the name Dregen Hope. (Creative, I know.) A relatively young (in comparison.) fallen Guardian from the Great Disaster area of the city. Born and raised before shortly being sent into that massacre, it's no wonder she was tempted by the Darkness.
First, she had joined the cult of Osiris, then, once they had gone silent after the Red War, she fell in with the shadows of Yor. Now she's given herself completely to these idols, not only claiming the Traveler's evil, and going around the Crucible "convincing" those who don't agree with her with an actual Thorn. One that can drain the Light of a Guardian in an instant. Something she uses to beat and threaten them once she's had her fun.
Honestly, people like her make me sick. And give Guardians, and Light bearers in general a bad name. And while I honestly think that zealot Ikora keeps on these cases would have dealt with her, my Guardian takes personal interest in these cases. And so, the moment he found out, we were out here faster than you can say "that papa Oryx to you Crota!"
It's been a few days since we've touched down, tracking the target across these unusual lands, seeing the strange life forms that had come about after humanity's retreat. Yeats' been in hiding from the Vanguard after she took things too far in a certain, unofficial game, and have been living off the land as she waited for her chance to try and track down more shadows for their protection. Luckily for us, she's a Titan, not a Hunter. As such, subtlety isn't her strong suit.
And sure enough, our intel proved right as I can hear voices up ahead. Shin too, the man quickly kneeling down to avoid appearing on her radar.
Creeping forward, the two of us quickly spot the woman in a clearing, the girl and her Ghost seemingly in an argument, giving us the perfect chance to sneak in closer, letting us catch the middle of the conversation.
"Shut up! He's not lying!" Yeat screams. "He does love me! And I love him! I even drew on the power of the Darkness to get closer to him! I'm a Dregen now! A title he gave me! He must see me as someone worthy of being by his side!" Her ranting, while somewhat insightful, makes me roll my eye as I listen to her screaming at her poor Ghost. She's been tempted by the Darkness long before That man came into the picture. It was only a matter of time before she ended up on the wrong end of Shin's gun.
Though it seems the Drift knew this as well. Seems to have seduced her to use her before she was gunned down. Seems we're gonna have to have a talk with him once we're done here.
Her Ghost seems to agree, his eye blinking angrily as he pushes back. His voice strained and pleading, a stark contrast to his Guardian. "You're lying to yourself and you know it!" He shot back, though not aggressively. "He's only using you! Manipulating you! I've known you for all your life and I know that I failed you. I should have never allowed you to go and get involved with the Cult of Osiris. I thought you need to forge your own path but now I see I should have been firmer with you from the start. I know you're stronger than this. Please, let's go back. We can still help the Vanguard. Forget the Drifter! Forget Gambit! We can start over. We can get help. Please."
Her Ghost seems tired, exhausted even. I wonder how long he's been trying to make her see reason. Poor thing. He doesn't see she's beyond redemption, and it breaks my heart. He deserves better than this, better than her.
"No! No! No! No! No!" She screams while stomping her foot like a child. "Not when I'm this close to making a real Thorn! I'm just as skilled as Shin Malphur and once I get a Guardian killer, I can protect him from Malphur!"
She's raving at this point. Thinking she's a match for my Guardian just because she's a top Crucible player is laughable. The Dark Age was completely different from the games Shaxx runs. Back then, playing fair wasn't possible. You wanted to survive? You did whatever you had to.
"You're a Titan! Your job is to protect the entire city, not one person! Don't tell me you forgot your oath! An oath that you swore to not only the Zavala but to me! You even etched it on your fist armor set! And now you want to throw it all away for a liar!" The Ghost countered, his voice filled with pain, the poor thing trying to reach the spark inside her that had drawn him in the first place. The love he feels for her is clear as his agony. He still thinks he's a part of her like she's a part of him.
"Shut up! Shut up you stupid piece of shit! You don't know anything so shut your stupid mouth, you worthless blob! You don't know anything!" Yeat just screaming insults now, no longer trying to justify herself, just hurling hurtful words. She knows deep down he's not going to leave her, so she's lashing out at him, like a child throwing a tantrum when their parents don't agree with them. Huh, and here I thought my opinion of her couldn't get any lower.
It seems to me that we're not gonna get any more useful information out of this one. I send my "insight" to Shin and he agrees. Standing up, he moves in, stepping into the clearing and loudly clearing his throat, immediately interrupting her verbal abuse.
"Epp!" Yeat gasps when she sees us. The infamous Guardian Hunter in the flash, appearing out of nowhere and standing right before her. Something that would leave even most veteran Guardians stunned.
But this doesn't last long.
Blocking back to reality in a second, Yeat draws her gun and levels it at Shin, her body moving so fast it's a blur, showing her high rank in the Crucible isn't just for show. The girl taking aim faster than most Guardians could react to.
But Shin isn't most Guardians. And she's not a real Dregen.
A single shot rings out through the crisp air of the Planetoid, followed immediately by a blast of Solar Light as Yeat, Thorn and all, is reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes. I doubt she even realized she was dead before her consciousness was burnt away.
Another permanent death. No matter how many rogue Guardians we kill, it never seems to get easier. Killing is still killing, and while many of our kind have seen death so many times it no longer fazes them, reveling in Falling Kells, or toppling houses. The life of a soldier, one we are not so fortunate enough to afford.
We are Executioners, plain and simple. And no matter what anyone tells you, only someone who has acted as judge, jury and executioner will ever understand the emotional toll this job takes.
With her physical form gone and her Light the only thing remaining, I open my sensors as I manifest next to my Guardian, giving him a warning that her Ghost was about to reappear for resurrection. And just like an Arc Strider blocking bullets with their staff, Shin hand lashes out, snatching the Ghost before he can even finish manifesting.
Looking down at the little light held firmly in his palm, Shin carefully brought him up to his chest, keeping a tight grip as the sphere struggled against him.
"Be at ease, little one. This was not your fault." Shin says gently, trying his best to ease the feeling of loss the Ghost must feel. "She went to the darkness willingly and without question, not you. She made her choices, there's nothing more you could have done to save her from herself."
"You're wrong!" The Ghost snaps back, his eye flashing with both sadness and despair. "There has to be something I haven't tried yet! Something I can do! She's not beyond help yet. I know I can save her!"
Shaking his head at the Ghost, Shin gave him a little squeeze, trying to calm him as best he could. The loss of someone far beyond a friend is still fresh in his mind. His and mine.
"Even if you get her help, and she actually accepts it, one day sooner or later, you'll find yourself back in this same situation." Shin said calmly. "Power dose not corrupt, it reveals a person's true nature. No matter how much you fight against it, your Guardian will never change."
"No. I refuse to accept that!" The Ghost shot back, his eye now flashing red as a new emotion enters the mix. Anger. "You, who goes around executing those you deem as evil, what makes you any different from her! At least she fights to protect something she loves! Misplaced or not, she acts on loyalty, not zealotry. Something which is no better than the Hive!"
A valid point, but equally irrelevant. While it can be argued love is a positive motivator, it can be just as easily corrupted, twisted, warped into obsession which leads only to darkness. The City would fall if Guardians were allowed to follow such a dangerous mantra to its inevitable conclusion. Whereas Shin is one of the few Guardians with the strength necessary to avoid falling into self-righteousness. He understands the dark nature of what we do and the danger of viewing it in any possible light. Had Yeat been allowed to live, she would have claimed countless lives in her pointless endeavors to make that snake fall for her. That was something this Ghost doesn't understand.
Unfortunately, I don't think he ever will. His own love blinds him to the truth making reasoning useless. Better to let him go then take her body before burning the place down. Erase any scrap of Yeat to ensure she couldn't be revived. That way, even if this Ghost stayed partnerless for the rest of time, he wouldn't have to live with the guilt of watching his Guardian fall even further into darkness until she became unrecognizable.
I send Shin my condolences and he agrees. Tightening his grip on the Ghost, his tone becomes harsh and firm, the man no longer trying to comfort his prisoner.
"If you refuse to leave her, you'll leave me no choice but to end you as well." Shin says darkly, applying more pressure to show how easily he could crush his core. "So, I will give you two options, either Leave now and never come back again. Or die beside your fallen Guardian never knowing the warmth of another's love. Make your choice, now."
"But I-!"
"Leave or Die." Digging his fingers into his core, the Ghost's eye widened as he saw how serious Shin was. His gaze flicking to his Guardian's ashes before back to Shin, carefully weighing his options before he let out a deflated sigh, his shell dropping in defeat.
"Okay, I'll leave."
Nodding at his decision, Shin loosens his grip,
Only for the Ghost to shoot out towards his Guardian, casting his Light as far as it can reach. He thinks he's deceived us, he thinks he can raise his Guardian in time to push Shin off of them, he thinks they can survive this day.
He is wrong.
Another blast of Solar light erupts from Shin's Golden Gun, this one punching straight through his core, causing the Ghost to explode in a radiant burst of Arc Light, one washing over the forest like aurora, blowing the trees gently as it temporarily painted the sky. A cruel irony that something so beautiful is the result of something so horrible.
Another Ghost dead, another Light lost. It seems that every victory we win just makes the coming war harder. When the Darkness returns will we be able to win with so few Guardians?
"Uggh?"
A groan breaks me and Shin from our thoughts. Turning, we look over to see Yeat slowly getting back to her feet. The woman blinking wildly as she tried to shake off the confusion of her sudden death.
Was that Ghost really so powerful that he was able to resurrect his Guardian that quickly? Incredible! Now I feel even worse for the poor guy to have to waste his abilities on a Guardian like this. Had he been partnered with someone not so easily swayed, who knows how far he could have gone.
"What happened?" Getting up, Yeat looks around in confusion. First she looked at Shin then then at me, before her eyes finally landed on the remains of her Ghost. Horror dawning on her face as she realized what had happened.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" Scrambling on her hands and knees to her Ghost's broken shell, she slowly picks up the pieces of it in shaky hands and the reality down on her. Her last, most precious person, the one who had been with her since her first rebirth, was gone.
"Wwwwwwaaaahhhhh!" Her pain-filled wail echoed through the clearing as she clutched the remains of her friend to her chest, tears streaming down her face as she openly sobbed, rocking her body back and forth, unable to cope with her loss.
Her agony however, didn't stay focused on herself for long.
Whipping her tears stained face around, she fixed Shin with a death glare. Focusing all her anger and pain towards him, her voice trembling and cracking with emotions. "You did this! I'll kill you!"
Drawing on her last spark of Light, Yeat suddenly shot forward with a boom like thunder, flying at Shin like a missile with long trails of Arc Light flowing out behind her. She's lost any semblance of control she had left, the woman only wanting revenge for her fallen friend at this point. Her attachment to her long standing partner indicating perhaps there had been hope for her after all.
Too bad it hadn't shown up sooner.
Raising his flaming Golden Gun, Shin calmly put the woman's head in his sights. And then, just like so many time before,
Shin get's the last word.
Recorded by a renegade's Ghost