Little Light

by InfinitySlayer

INCOMING TRANSMISSION

The perplexed Guardian eyed the report with no small amount of wonder. A routine scan on a random Vex spire had never produced information like this before. Reaching out his hand, he summoned his Ghost into physical existence. From the looks of it, the Ghost looked just as confused as he did.

"Ghost, you make anything of this?" The Guardian asked, scanning his humid surroundings for any sign of enemies.

The Ghost shook in its equivalent of a no, "Even if I could, it's encrypted with passwords that only the Vanguard has access to."

The Guardian read over the data again. It was rare to come across something that didn't fit into a routine out here in the jungle ruins of Venus. Hefting his Auto Rifle into his arms, he began to walk towards a nearby concrete structure overgrown with vines and decay.

"Then whatever this is, it's bigger than us."

Upon his command, the Ghost transported the Guardian and his equipment directly into orbit. They immediately activated their ship's warp drives and imputed the Tower's coordinates into the NAV console.

"Well, this is at least number three on the 'craziest situations I've ever been in' list."

The masculine, robotic voice rang out in the Vanguard Headquarters, alerting the passerby Guardians to an event they probably didn't want to be around to hear, and sequentially be recruited for. As famed and revered as the three Vanguards were, the missions they sent their own classes of Guardians on often ended in either wild goose chases or repeated death, with little room in between.

The Vanguard HQ room itself was rather small and uninteresting in comparison with the rest of the Tower. An steel, oval table adorned took up most of the space, mostly clean aside from some of the Vanguards' clutter in little piles towards the edges. The four walls of the room were decorated with ornate banners with the Vanguard coat-of-arms. Various attendants skirted this way and that, generally maintaining distance from the three interesting Vanguards.

One Vanguard in particular, the more-or-less official leader of the Warlock class of Guardians, smiled in reply to the statement of her Exo Vanguard counterpart, Cayde-6.

"You have a list? I thought you'd been in far too many 'crazy' situations to properly count them."

Cayde-6 smirked at Ikora's reply, "Of course I have a list. How else would I brag to you stuck-ups?"

Cayde continued his lighthearted rant, "Number two on the list is of course the time I watched a Ghost try to eat a block of cheese. Not pretty. The other time, of course, was when-"

"I fail to see the importance of this conversation in light of the information we have just been given." Commander Zavala's deep, respectful tone interrupted Cayde's story, a frown forming on the Exo's metallic jawline.

"We'll have to take a rain check on number one, Rey. Commander killjoy here has something 'more important' to mention."

Commander Zavala's face curled in offended indignation, "You and I both know how vital it is we address this new info as soon as possible. The fate of The Last City may depend on it."

Cayde raised a dismissing hand, "There you go again with that melodramatic lingo. How many times has it been now that something has 'hung in the balance' of some mysterious thing?"

Zavala slammed his fists upon the steel table, mildly startling the two other Vanguards. "While I understand the importance of some hearty banter from time to time, now is not that time, Hunter."

Cayde backed down with a wave of his hands, "All right, I get it. What exactly are we up against, Zavala?"

The Commander seemed to like the change of pace, immediately replying to Cayde's serious question, "It's not what we're up against, but who. "

Cayde and Ikora shared confused glances as Zavala placed a high quality holographic projector on the center of the table. Immediately, it displayed a large manuscript, written in informal text.

"A Ghost memory log. Don't see a lot of those, nowadays. What does this have to do with anything?"

Caydes question was followed by pictures of a serene landscape, of quadruped, colorful creatures that vaguely represented horses, and of places full of life. Ikora studied the presentation carefully, "It looks beautiful. Were these pictures attached with the Ghost's logs?"

"They were. While not going into too much detail, the Ghost apparently was instantaneously transported to this location by an unknown Vex device. His Guardian was killed in combat while coming into contact with the machine."

Ikora raised here hand inquisitively, "If the Ghost's Guardian was killed before it reached this new land, how is the Ghost still functional?"

Zavala smiled at her question. "That's the thing, Warlock. The Ghost bonded with a second Guardian, and not even one of the three core races."

Both Ikora's and Cayde's eyes rose in surprise. "That's never occurred in my memory, and I don't think the Library has anything on it either. But what are you saying, Zavala? That Ghosts can have more than one Guardian?"

Zavala shook his head at Cayde's question, "I think that this is a special occurrence, brought about by the unique circumstances of this particular venture. Nonetheless, I believe that we should take action upon it."

The holographic image shifted to detailed plans and statistics displaying ordinance and assets. "I am prepared to send in a team of my most skilled Titans to break through the Vex defenses and secure the device. I believe that a great gains may be made for the City, perhaps some we cannot yet even fathom, should we acquire this machine."

Cayde raised a defensive metal hand, "Now hold on, commander. I see no other intel on this aside from the backless logs of a perhaps insane Ghost, and you're expecting to throw a team of twelve Guardians into the wind?"

Ikora continued Cayde's sentiment, "As much as it pains me, I'd have to agree with Cayde. I see what we could gain from this mission, but putting twelve Guardians' lives on the line for little more than a hope seems reckless at best."

"I thought you might say that. There's more on the line than just new technology, Ikora. Watch."

Her eyes fell upon the projector, which was now displaying a rather poor quality video of the Ghost's first person view of the world. A scene of a forest was shown, followed by the last thing they wanted to see. A swift battle with a Vex Harpy, followed by the static that represented the end of the log.

Cayde was the first to speak after a long moment of silence, "So you're telling me that the Vex are already there?"

"It seems so. This carries with it huge implications. Not only are the lives of whatever sentient creatures inhabit that world at risk, but if the Vex manage to take the lush planet, it could become a factory of millions of more troops to be used in the war against us."

The room fell quiet for a moment of pondering. Cayde rested his hand upon his chin, contemplating the risk-benefit scenario of sending a team in to investigate. Ikora remained largely stoic as she continued to look through the data presented on the projector. Zavala finally broke the silence with a thunderous voice,

"I think we all know what needs to be done. If we are agreed, I'll send for the team immediately."

Cayde sighed a long breath, finally admitting, "You already know how rarely I say this, but I think you're right, Zavala. You've got my vote."

All eyes fell upon Ikora, who glanced at both of the Vanguards nervously, "As much as I dislike it, I think we're going to have to act upon this whim. I agree with your plan, commander."

Zavala smiled and replied with a serious tone, "Then I'll send word to the team. Whatever comes of this journey is on our hands now. The die is cast, we have crossed the Rubicon."

Zavala extended his muscular hand into the center of the room. Cayde followed with his own, grasping the wrist of his fellow Vanguard, "May the Light guide us, or whatever."

After a short pause, Ikora grasped the wrists of her counterparts,

"May the Light be with us all."