Fireteam Odium

by EchoTheFloof

30) Home

The ruins of Manehattan smouldered as Luna wandered slowly through its streets. The corpses of ponies and Cabal alike piled either side of her as far as the eye could see. The remaining frames from the bunker had been working to push them aside, opening the streets to the beings and vehicles that would be needed in order to clean them.

Looking up, many of the buildings had fallen, a result of the combined firepower from the Cabal ships and Equestrian armies. Those that still stood were filled with holes wide enough to fit multiple ponies through at the same time.

As she turned onto the main street, Chrome trotted up by her side, joining her in her silent walk of the city. It was many blocks in before she broke the silence, “I cannot help but be reminded of Canterlot.”

Chrome nodded, “I can see why, but we can rebuild Manehattan. Might be a bit harder to do the same for Canterlot.”

“Very true.” Luna looked into a wrecked store to the left of her, the pile of bodies just low enough to see inside. The partially skeletal remains of the ponies that once worked there lay near the inner walls, the Cabal not seeing any reason to move them from a building they had no intention of using, “How can a race be so cruel?”

“The Cabal can't really be blamed for something the Primus chose for them. Just a shame we couldn't end this without bloodshed.”

Luna hummed, “They had a choice and they made it. Those that made the correct choice will now live on, and those that didn't will be nothing but food for the earth.”

That drew a raised eyebrow from Chrome, “A little dark, no?”

She chuckled a little, “I'm a Princess. I'm allowed a moment or two to speak my mind, especially in times like these.”

“Of course, wasn't trying to take that away.”

Luna smiled down at the unicorn, “I know. Perhaps you should return to the Guardians, no doubt they will have use of your skill in some way.”

Chrome hesitated, but gave a nod, teleporting away to the bunker and leaving Luna to continue wandering the city, something she would do long into the next morning.

- - -

Kervis' vision was slow to return, though some mumbled curses and a couple of head smacks seemed to do the trick. When he could see, he found himself in a small, single bed medical tent, no doubt placed here instead of the larger medical tent for fear of what would happen to his body without his Ghost.

He swung his legs around and off the bed, giving himself a look over. His armour plating had been stripped, and placed carefully near his bed, he'd been left in nothing but his under armour, a relatively thin suit of ballistic fabric and light metals. The tent itself was simple, something that could be quickly deployed in an emergency. Just a frame cot and some antiquated looking medical equipment.

His gently picked his broken helmet up, giving it a look over. The once vibrant green glow flickered, now barely visible. The face section was shattered, a couple of holes here and there. It was lucky that none of the fragments hit his face. Without a Ghost, the recovery process would be long, and probably painful.

The tent flaps opened as he checked over the other pieces of his armour, Exodus walking in and sitting on the cot beside him. The weak frame creaked a bit, bending down with the added weight of the Exo.

“How's your head?” He asked, picking up the helmet Kervis put aside.

“I'm fine. My armour took the hit well enough.” Kervis responded, looking to his friend. Exodus had taken far less of a beating than Kervis, but his tattered robes revealed he wasn't unscathed.

“We'll have to find you a new set. Might be hard without the Tower's supply, though.”

Kervis sighed, “I have a set in storage. I'll pick it up when we find a way back.”

“Speaking of which, we still have no idea how to do that. Our focus left the prospect of returning home pretty quickly when we found the Cabal.”

The Titan shrugged, picking his pulse rifle up and frowning at the state of it, “It's Vex tech. They wouldn't leave themselves stranded here.”

Exodus fiddled with a scrap of cloth on his robes, ignoring Kervis' failed attempts to load a magazine into the dented magwell, “Perhaps they constructed portals here too?”

Kervis slammed the magazine into the magwell, the force being enough to fix the dents to the point that the magazine scraped in, “Maybe, but wouldn't a bunch of alien tech be something the ponies would bring up with us?”

The Exo suppressed a shudder at the sound the magazine made, rolling his eyes as Kervis started yanking on the end of the mag, suddenly realising his mistake. Standing, Exodus replied, “Not if they don't think it's alien.”

Kervis soon gave up trying to retrieve the stuck magazine, setting it aside and slowly standing, giving a thankful nod when Exodus moved over to help him stand upright, “What do you have in mind?”

“That Princess, Twilight, she seems interested in history and the like. She might have an idea of where to look”

“Who? I've met a lot of Princesses in the time we've been here.” Kervis muttered, looking down at the mess of gear he'd been left with.

“The purple one. Smaller than the others.”

It took him a moment to process the memories, “Oh, her. I don't remember talking with her, but I saw her following you around, thinking she was being stealthy.”

Exodus chuckled, “She seems fascinated by new things. No doubt the arrival of aliens was a major turn of events for her. I'll try to find her, meanwhile, you should rest. I've no idea what will happen to your body now that you have no Ghost, and so I'd rather you didn't go running around on more adventures until we know for sure you won't just collapse on us.”

Kervis huffed, “Fine, but I'm finding Lemon first.”

The Warlock placed a hand on his shoulder, “I need a promise from you that you won't go wandering off to punch something.”

“Y'know, not all Titans punch things.”

“You've been wearing a pair of gauntlets that boost how much Light you can push into your punches.” Exodus retorted, nodding a bit to the massive shoulder guards, the gauntlets lying against them.

This drew a second huff from the human, “Doesn't prove anything.”

There was a moment's silence, drawing Kervis' attention up to Exodus' expectant face, he'd even brought out the foot tap, something Kervis hadn't seen since the time they'd fought Crota, “Fine! Fine! No punching anything.”

Exodus nodded, patting Kervis' shoulder and leaving the tent, and giving his partner enough time to work out how he'd present himself. He finally settled with going out in just his under armour, figuring that his damaged plating would make him look more hurt than he actually was.

Leaving the tent, he found himself in the field of tents that was set up after Canterlot fell. Ponies were still being moved to homes, but with how many there were compared to the amount of available housing, the process was slow.

He barely took a step forward before being tackled by a yellow blur, Lemon happily cuddling him when he was sufficiently pinned.

“Hey there,” Kervis chuckled, “I was just leaving to find you.”

“I couldn't wait around anymore,” Lemon replied, giving him a happy smile, “How are you? Exodus told me you were hurt and lost your little Ghost thing.”

The Titan grunted, gently moving her so he could stand and dust himself off, “Feeling a lot better than I probably should. Took a pretty heavy hit, so my armour's wrecked.”

“I'd rather have wrecked armour than a hurt Kervis.”

“Understandable. Why exactly did they move me here instead of the bunker?”

Lemon scrunched a bit, “I really don't know. They put you in a single tent to keep you from accidentally hurting other ponies, just in case, but they kept you in a place full of other ponies.”

Kervis sighed, “I'm sure there's some reason behind it, especially if Exodus is involved. C'mon, we should head back to the bunker.”

Without thinking, he raised his hand, looking at his empty palm with a slow understanding of why it remained empty. After a few moments, he closed the hand, looking back to Lemon, “I, uh, don't suppose you have any transport we can use?”

- - -

Ponyville was rather quiet, which wasn't really a surprise to Exodus. Many of the ponies had left town to a gathering a mile away to mourn those that were lost, and celebrate their victory. Those that were left tried their best to continue their daily lives, only a couple even acknowledging his presence as he walked through their town, in the direction of the towering castle on the edge of it.

Turning on a street, he noticed a large crater, bits of what was once a home littering the sides of it. With the lack of smoke, he could only assume it was a stray shot from a past battle, possibly Canterlot.

Shaking his head, he silently vowed to help the ponies that lost everything in the war the Cabal brought. They deserved help, and it was likely that the pony hierarchy would be slow to respond, thanks to the poor state it had been left in.

He pressed on, arriving at the castle's front doors only a few minutes later. Giving a few knocks, he stood back a little, waiting patiently for who he assumed would be a servant.

Instead of a servant, however, Twilight herself opened the door, flinging it open wider when she recognised who was there.

“Oh! Exodus, right?” She questioned, looking him over.

“That's right. I hope I'm not disturbing you.” He replied, standing still to let the curious pony look over his armour.

“Not at all, I just have a little bit of paperwork to sort through. Helping smooth things out for the princesses, you see.”

Exodus nodded, “Makes sense. Mind if I speak with you inside? I have something I think you could help with.”

She beamed up at him, “Of course! Please, come on in.” She stepped aside to allow him entry, standing close to his side as he stepped in, getting a close look at the tattered material on his robes.

“See something interesting?” He asked, taking his helmet off and looking down at her.

“S-sorry, I've just never seen material like this,” She sheepishly responded.

“I'll tell you about it some other time. I'm afraid my priority right now is getting our situation sorted.”

Twilight lead the way into the castle, talking as she walked, “Speaking of which, what exactly did you need help with?”

“We think there may be technology on your planet that could help us return home. The beings that constructed the portals that sent us here will have likely built structures here too, mostly to keep a solid link to a planet they might be able to terraform.”

She gave him an uncertain look, “Terraform? Why would they do that?”

Exodus shrugged, “Not really sure. I suppose they prefer planets their way.”

Twilight hummed, taking him into the library and offering him a seat at a table. He had to shift a bit to sit on it properly, with it being designed more for ponies.

“I think I have some books that might help, though I'm not sure how much you'll find,” She said, flying up to the bookshelves, “You were the first aliens we ever discovered.”

“It's likely that the technology is hidden to keep it out of the way. It would cause problems for the beings if you had found it and learned how to manipulate it.” Exodus explained, looking around the room. Even he had to admit he was impressed with the size of the place.

Twilight returned with a few books, “These are probably your best bet. Want help reading them?”

Exodus stared at her for a moment, “You want to help me read books? First time I've heard that.”

She sat in the chair next to him, “Really? You don't have people that like books where you come from?”

“Oh we do, just none that I work with.”

“That's a shame. I love reading, the knowledge you can get from a single book is fascinating to me.” The alicorn commented, opening a book from the pile and starting the first page.

“I have to agree,” Exodus said, opening the next book in the pile, “Maybe I'll convince Elana to...” He stopped before he finished his sentence, gazing hard at the symbols that lined the pages, “Right. Probably should have thought about that.”

Twilight looked up, “What's wrong?”

“I can't read your language. It was a miracle we even speak the same language, to be fair.”

She scrunched a bit, “Sorry, want me to look for you?”

“I feel that you may have to. I won't be much help, sadly.” Exodus sighed, closing the book and setting it back on the pile.

Giving him a kind smile, she continued reading, “Care to talk about that material now?”

“Oh, I suppose so. We have plenty of time on our hands.”

Twilight giggled, giving him a glance and continuing to read, “That we do.”

- - -

Elana was sat on a chair outside the bunker, tinkering with her sniper, when Procor joined her.

Looking up, she smiled at him, “Hey, big guy. Feeling alright?”

He took a chair from nearby and sat with her, “About as good as someone that nearly lost a friend.”

“Keyword's 'nearly',” Elana replied, putting the magazine into her rifle and setting it aside.

“You did good up there. Better than I'd expected.” Procor stated, leaning forward a bit.

Elana nodded, looking out at the fields surrounding the bunker, “Thanks, though I thought I was gonna miss every shot with that Golden Gun.”

“Yet you didn't. Kalis taught you well.”

“She did. Just wish she was here to teach me more.” She said in response, looking down at the battered sniper by her side.

Procor turned his attention to the sky, watching the distant pegasi move cargo from the nearby towns to assist those that needed aid, “Guardians aren't invincible. Understanding that before you enter combat will help to give each action you take meaning.”

Elana looked to him sadly, “But it's that exact thought that scares me every day. Kalis was an experienced Hunter, and Kervis is even more so than her, yet both either died or nearly died in that war.”

“And it's the job of the less experienced Guardians to take their place, and succeed where they didn't. When a Guardian dies, it's for a purpose, even if the Guardian themself doesn't realise it.”

The Hunter managed a weak chuckle, “Some might see that as a bit morbid.”

Procor laughed a little in return, “Our jobs are morbid. Hardly anything new for me.”

The duo fell into a comfortable silence, gazing across the fields of green grass and spotted trees. It was some time before Elana spoke again, “I heard Exodus was looking for a way back home.”

“So did I. I'd wondered how long it would be before he gave up taking a break.”

She nodded once more, “He never struck me as someone that likes to sit around doing nothing. What do you think you'll end up doing, now that everything's said and done?”

“I need to go back. No doubt the Vanguard have gotten themselves in another situation that they need digging out of.” Procor replied, giving his gauntlet a look over, “What about you?”

“I... I think I'm going to stay here. The Tower was only my home for a short period, and I never really did anything of meaning there. I've got friends here, people and ponies I can rely on, and beings that can use my help.” Elana explained, watching him as he checked his armour over.

Procor gave her an understanding smile, “Makes sense. Zavala won't be happy about it, but there's not much he can do to stop you in the end. What about your Ghost?”

Elana cocked her head a bit, “My Ghost?”

“Yeah. From the Ghosts I've seen, they are pretty intensely in favour of protecting the Traveller.”

“Oh,” She muttered, “He's not as okay with it as I would have liked, but with how young I am, I think he understands my reasoning. I hope he does, at least.”

“The Traveller is important, indescribably so, to our Ghosts. Your Ghost, however, isn't you. If you want to make a choice that decides your future, that's not for him to decide.” The Titan patted her arm gently, “If you want to stay, then stay.”

She smiled widely at him, “Thanks, Procor. That means a lot.”

Said Titan stood up, fixing his armour back onto his body, “Not a problem. Gotta help somehow, right?”

“Don't be silly,” Elana said, still smiling as she stood up with him, “We likely wouldn't have managed to win without you.”

Procor simply chuckled, “If you say so. C'mon, we should probably see what sort of trouble Flame's got himself into.”

“Trouble? He didn't seem like a pony that got into trouble when I spoke with him.”

“He's changed a lot since Odium first met him, from how Exodus and Kalis described him.” Procor explained, “Though from my experience with people like him, he's sure to have found something to get into trouble with. Just need to find out what.”

Elana gave a confused nod, “Alright then, I suppose we should go find him.”

“Hey, at the very least it's something to do until Exodus finds that Vex tech. Let's go.”

Not being able to argue with that logic, Elana stood, holstering her sniper and following her fellow Guardian, giving one last look to the fields before focusing on the path ahead of them.

- - -

Exodus rode his sparrow in silence, the only sounds being that of the wind battering his robes, and the roaring engine behind him. With the help of Twilight, he had managed to pinpoint a few areas with some promise, though it had taken a few hours to do so. He had already been to two, both ending up being nothing more than ancient pony ruins, something he'd normally be interested in if the Vex technology wasn't so important to find.

“Exodus?” His Ghost asked through his helmet comms, “How are you?”

“I'm fine, why do you ask?” Exodus responded, swerving a little to avoid some boulders.

“I know what's going through your head. The Traveller needs us more than these ponies do.”

Exodus grunted a little, moving his hands a bit to get a better grip on the handles, “I have to disagree. Very little could bring the Vanguard down at this point. They aren't the weak, final hope they once were.”

His Ghost didn't respond for a little while, “I still don't think we should just stay here and abandon the Traveller.”

“Wouldn't call it abandoning,” Exodus said, his tone unchanging, “I suppose it just depends on how you see the Traveller. Some claim it to be a god, others see it as curse. I've even seen people agreeing on the idea that it only cares for itself.”

“Surely you don't think of it that way,” The Ghost said, almost incredulously.

“Naturally, otherwise I wouldn't be a very good Guardian. I still believe that we should be helping those that can't help themselves. That's what we were doing in the City, no?” Exodus looked to the right slightly, at where he correctly guessed his Ghost was floating, invisible.

“There's no way I can convince you to go back, is there?” Ghost sighed.

“Not right now, no. In the future, providing the ponies can care for themselves, I might go back. Until then, I've got a job to do.”

The duo fell back into silence as the distant mountain came into view. He would have preferred to fly there, but Twilight had advised him against it. The area was relatively close to dragon territory, and it wasn't likely that they would take an unknown flying machine flying into their borders lightly.

Upon arriving, Exodus swiftly dismounted his sparrow, allowing his Ghost to send it back up to the Galliot as he began surveying the area. It was the peak of the mountain, quite flat, all this considered. Near the centre of the mountain, a few familiar structures could be seen propped out of the ground, half buried by the probable millennia they had been lying dormant.

He rushed over, quickly getting to work checking the remains. They were Vex tech for sure, but the area didn't make much sense to him. He'd expected them to be buried deep underground, not left out in the open like this.

“Think they are usable?” He questioned his companion, trying to dig at the stone to test its strength.

“The Vex designed these portals to last all of time, but that's all I can really bank on. I should be able to get something out of it providing the lower section of the frame hasn't been destroyed.”

When the stone didn't budge to his partially gentle knocks, Exodus stood, “How long would it take to check?”

“That entirely depends on how tough this mountain is. If it's soft enough to dig through, I'm sure our Titans wouldn't have any issues getting the portal frames back up to the surface.”

“Perfect,” The Guardian nodded, “Bring the team here, we have plenty of work to do.”

- - -

An hour later, the team had arrived and were caught up. Kervis, still a little wobbly but demanding that he help, had brought a pickaxe with him, using Procor's Ghost to call his ship from orbit.

As the Titans got to work shifting the stone from around the frame of the portal, Elana and Exodus stood to the side to begin observing the portal, making sure no damage was accidentally given to it.

“Won't lie, I really thought we weren't going to reach this point.” Elana commented, doing her best to watch the portal, though both she and Exodus knew she wouldn't be able to see damage to a structure she didn't understand very easily.

“I can understand that. It gets easier to predict how wars will go, trust me.” Exodus responded.

“Sounds a lot like the other advice I've been given,” Elana sighed, keeping her focus on the portal.

Exodus chuckled, “It's how Kervis was when he taught me. Not sure about Procor, of course.”

The Hunter spared a glance at Kervis, who had taken the upper body of his under armour off at some point, “What kind of person was he?”

“Mission focused, completely humourless. Kalis would drive him insane sometimes, but he's always been a good friend and an even better teammate,” He looked down at her for a moment, “Why do you ask?”

“I'm still a little worried that he won't like me being the Hunter of the fireteam.”

“He'll be fine. You're not trying to be Kalis, you're trying to fill the now empty slot in our team. If anything, I think he'll be grateful that it wasn't a Hunter from the Crucible.” Exodus explained, returning his focus to the portal.

“He has something against Hunters in the Crucible?”

“Personal grudge against them. They, uh, use 'Cheap one shot tactics', apparently. I never did enjoy the idea of fighting other Guardians, so I wouldn't know.”

Elana giggled a bit, “I think he just doesn't appreciate real power.”

Exodus shrugged, “As I said, wouldn't know.”

By this point, the portal had been mostly unearthed, Procor doing most of the heavy lifting with Kervis helping to clear the hole of loose debris. Even from their distance from the hole, Exodus and Elana could clearly see that the portal had survived the test of time, thankfully.

“Looks like it's my turn,” Exodus said, heading over to the Titans.

Elana followed him over, waving a little to Kervis and Procor as they sat down a little ways away, Procor making sure the now winded Kervis didn't collapse as they left the hole. Procor waved back, but Kervis was too tired to even notice.

She slid into the hole, looking the portal over closely. Dust and residual stone still clung inside the frame, and the base was still underground, “So how do we get this thing to work?”

Exodus' Ghost appeared as he responded, “Not really sure. We got a lot of Data from the Vault of Glass a few years back, but there's no guarantee any of it will work”

“Can't we give it a kick? I've seen that work before with machinery.”

“Kick the only known Vex portal on the planet? I'd rather not, though I'm sure there's someone here that would love to vent some anger on a poor, aged piece of tech.” Exodus finished by looking over at Procor, who was helping Kervis to get the top section of his under armour back on.

Elana smiled, “Good point, but I still think a gentle love tap would go a long way.”

Exodus huffed a little, “Maybe. Let's try some non-hostile methods first.”

His Ghost was already working on trying to get the portal to work, inputting various streams of code he had gleaned during their brief time in the Vault. A few minutes of silent waiting passed before the Ghost turned back to Exodus, “I put everything we got into it, I got a response from a few, but clearly it's not enough.”

“Then try the ones you got a response from again,” Elana said, edging closer to the portal.

“I don't really see how trying again would help, but if it makes you happy, I suppose I can oblige,” The little machine responded, going back to the portal. As he began inputting the codes once more, Elana gave the side of the frame a swift kick. The metal rang a little, large chunks of stone falling from it as a flickering portal lit up on the centre of the frame.

Elana immediately fell to the floor, clutching her foot, “See?” She managed to get out through gritted teeth, “Worked like a charm.”

Exodus sighed, “Well, you got it working, I'll give you that. Need some help?”

The Hunter just groaned, letting her Ghost heal her foot enough for her to stand, accepting Exodus' help in getting up, “Thanks. So, uh, I'm guessing it's not meant to flicker like that?”

“It's been buried in rock for some time, so it's really not surprising.” The Warlock explained, turning to his Ghost, “Think you can keep it open long enough to send Procor back?”

The Ghost nodded, “Should be able to, though he won't have long to get through.”

“Good,” Exodus turned his head again, this time to look up at Procor, who was now standing at the side of the hole, “Ready to go?”

“I've been ready since we killed Va'aull,” Procor replied, jumping down beside them and getting closer to the portal's surface, “Well, this looks... safe.”

“My Ghost will keep it open long enough for you to get through. After that, you're on your own. There's no telling where this will drop you.” Exodus explained.

“I'm sure the Vanguard will pick me up eventually. If not, I'll find a way back home.”

Exodus hummed, “Glad you have more faith in their abilities than I do. Good luck, Procor, and thanks for being with us during this.”

Procor gave Exodus' shoulder a friendly pat, smiling as he put his helmet on, “Good fighting with you. Maybe we'll see each other again.”

“Hopefully under better circumstances.” Exodus said, nodding a little.

The Titan gave a short laugh, turning back to the portal, “Alright, I'm ready. See you on the other side, you two.”

“Same to you. Ghost?”

Exodus' Ghost responded by opening the portal, spreading his segments out as he worked to keep the portal stable. As soon as the flickering ended, Procor stepped through, his Ghost following. With no reason to keep the portal open, Exodus' Ghost let it go back to its previous state, sparks flying from the back of the frame. Only moments later, the portal shut down completely, a few bits of metal falling to the ground.

“Well, I guess that's that.” Elana said, still looking at the now smoking portal.

“It is. Come on, there's no chance that thing will work again.” Exodus replied as he climbed out of the hole, helping Elana up when he got out. Kervis was still sat nearby, though looking a lot better than he did.

“Sounds like everything went off without a hitch,” Kervis muttered, still catching his breath.

“As far as I'm aware, yes. Now let's get you to a doctor, I've no idea how you convinced me into letting you overwork your body in this state, but you won't change my mind now.” The Warlock scolded, helping his friend up and calling for his ship.

“I wasn't gonna sit idly by and let you guys do all the work for me. I might be just a human now, but I gotta feel useful somehow.” Kervis said, his voice still quiet.

“There'll be plenty of time for that when you're not collapsing after a few minutes of hard work. Bed rest and medical attention is all you need right now.”

Kervis just grumbled, not looking up as the Galliot arrived, taking them on board as soon as it was able and flying them back towards civilisation.

When the ship was nothing more than a faint blue dot, a floating Vex machine appeared, briefly masked by a black shadow. It looked over the portal carefully, its single blue eye moving to see everything it could from its socketed position.

“This only delays my plans, Guardian,” It said to nobody in particular, “You've not beaten me yet.”

- - -

4 Days Later

Kervis stood silently on a hill, looking up at the mountain that Canterlot once stood. Before him was a freshly made grave, with a coffin at the bottom. The only other person with him was Lemon, who had helped him to find what remained of Kalis from beneath the concrete that still lay around the fields at the base of the mountain.

There wasn't much, as most of it was still under a few hundred tonnes of city, but there was enough to bury, at least.

Exodus joined him after a few minutes, having been delayed by Breeze wanting to come with him. He stood beside his friend, though his gaze was down at the coffin, “Have any words?”

Kervis didn't respond for a moment, thinking of what he could say, “...No. I've said mine already.”

Exodus looked at him for a short while before nodding, “Right. Well, we should get this thing filled, she wouldn't want us sitting around all glum.”

That drew a chuckle from the Titan as he grabbed a shovel from nearby, “No, she wouldn't. Care to help?”

“Of course, what kind of Guardian would I be if I didn't?”

Kervis raised his hands a bit, “Point taken. There's a shovel over there for you,” He gestured to the tool, getting to work.

The filling of the grave was silent from there, neither finding it right to speak while doing something like that. Kervis had recovered greatly since the fight with Va'aull, not even breaking a sweat as he shovelled dirt into the grave.

When the job was done, Kervis picked up Kalis' broken Telesto from behind the grave, the only weapon they could salvage. He placed it against the small headstone, remaining crouched there for a short time.

Exodus, taking notice of the time Kervis was spending there, left to head back to the bunker, leaving him and Lemon without another word.

Kervis and Lemon sat motionless for many hours, exchanging occasional small talk about Kalis, but mostly remaining silent to remember her as they knew her.

Lemon finally gave him a gentle poke on the leg, “Kervis? I hate to make you move, but the others will be expecting us back. I doubt Breeze or Elana would be happy if you missed the celebrations.”

“I know. Why don't you head back to the Vienna? I won't be much longer,” Kervis said, smiling at her a little and stroking her mane.

Lemon nodded, heading back to the ship and leaving him alone. Kervis' attention turned to the Telesto, “Suppose that's the end of it, huh? Hope you're happy, wherever you are.”

He stood slowly, giving a slight nod to the headstone, heading back to the ship and returning to the bunker with Lemon, his mind finally at rest for the first time since they arrived.

Author's Note:

And there it is, the culmination of 2 years of waiting. I want to deeply apologise for the time this took to finish, really shouldn't have taken that long.

That aside, however, I want to thank each and every one of you, from the people that supported me on day one, to the people that hated the story. You all have been the reason this story was even ever finished, and I'm happy to have finally finished this thing. I made a promise to you all that I'd finish it, and I'm glad I could uphold that.

There may be a sequel to this story, which should probably be obvious. The sequel would certainly not be something I write quickly, I've learned my lesson from this story, but at least it's something to look forward to, right?

Thank you all again for the support in writing this. I also want to personally thank Lotus for her work in reading this story over the last year, you're doing a great job, so keep it up!

See ya in the sequel (Hopefully )

Stay awesome

Comments

[Sirjadan13]

And with that, an excellent Destiny crossover story has finally come to a close... with a full 2 days till Shadowkeep launches.

Looking forward to whatever you have planned for the (probable) sequel.

[EchoTheFloof]

9857660
Thank you for the kind words

I honestly had no idea Shadowkeep was launching so soon. I stopped playing Destiny a long time ago, which is why this story didn't have any elements from D2. As for the sequel, I hope that everyone will the enjoy the idea I have. I'm a little tired of overwhelming forces in Destiny crossovers. I think it's about time that Guardians face off against just one being.

[TheArcticWolf]

As one of the people who was here for most of those two years, the story holds up amazingly.

[EchoTheFloof]

9862460
And thanks for being here all this time. Likely wouldn't have finished this thing if it wasn't for people like you that kept on reading despite my long delays.

[Lotus Moon]

Thank you for the compliment. I'm sorry it took like forever for me just to finish. Thanks for giving me the chance to read it

[EchoTheFloof]

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Life happens, better late than never I always say

[Ruinous Effigy]

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Panoptes, Xol, Nokris, Uldren, The Pyramids, Whatever is on Europa: ._.XD