Titan, Io, Mars, and Mercury...
Those are the names of the four worlds that disappeared. Now, it is up to us Guardians to protect the remaining habitable worlds from the Darkness and it allies. My name is Reaper ninety-nine, a human Guardian of the Hunter class and leader of fireteam scout. I just arrived at the tower after successful quest when Zavala gave a city-wide broadcast.
"People of the Last City. Humanity has endured a devastating blow. But, there is hope." The last line caught my attention "Vanguard scouts have confirmed the recent discovery of a new planet that follows the same orbit Mars had. This planet, named Avalon by the scouts, shows no traces of the Darkness or its forces."
I noticed that many civilians began to look hopeful at the news before Zavala continued "However, until we have confirmation that the planet is safe we urge all lightless civilians to remain within the safety of the city walls."
I left the hanger once Zavala ended the broadcast and headed to Banshee-44, the Tower's gunsmith, and dismantled all the lame and weak weapons I found on my quest.
"Here you go." He said as he handed me a legendary Engram as my faction rank increased.
"Cool, thanks." I said before decrypting it and discovering it was a Riskrunner SMG.
"Hmm, now that's a gun." Banshee said when he saw Riskrunner. I headed to my vault and stored my Last Hope pistol before equipping my new RIskrunner.
"Guardian, incoming transmission from...Commander Zavala." I heard my ghost say over our neural link before I heard commander Zavala's voice through my ghost.
"Reaper ninety-nine, this is commander Zavala, Titan Vanguard. I request your presence at my office at your earliest convenience." he said before ending the transmission.
"Well, that was...strange. Why would he request your presence so suddenly?" my ghost asked me.
"Beats me, I've only talked to Zavala to inform him of news or to obtain bounties." I answered as we set off to the office of the Titan Vanguard.
As me and my ghost approached commander Zavala's office, we noticed that were more guards than normal and that Zavala was staring out the window towards the city. We entered and saw the normally assortment of communications junk and Frames that manages the communications.
"Commander, what troubles you?" I asked when I saw him.
"The people want to colonize Avalon, but I'm worried that it might not be the best decision to take." He said without looking away from the window. "I want you and your fireteam to explore Avalon and decide if we a chance to establish a second city on the surface."
"Yes sir, I'll have my team ready by dawn tomorrow." I said before he turned and faced me, the look he gave me caused shivers to go down my spine.
"I want you and fireteam scout to be ready in a hour, we need to get there before the Darkness discovers the planet and establishes a foothold on the world." He ordered.
"As you command, Ghost search for Sapphire six and Markov." I ordered my ghost as I departed the office.
I found Sapphire six (Our team's Exo Warlock) in the Hanger, tinkering with her Leopard Zero jumpship and listening to some rock song dedicated to us guardians.
"Hey Reaper, what's up?" She asked, closing the engine's maintenance hatch when she saw me.
"We have a mission, be ready to leave in thirty minutes." I said before asking Amanda Holliday if my Vector Zero jumpship was good to go.
"I patched it up good as new, but next time don't pick a fight with a Fallen Ketch and expect to win." She said seriously.
"I make no promises!" I said before heading up the stairs to the courtyard and walking to the bazaar where Markov (The team's Awoken Titan) was arguing with a vendor over a Crown-Splitter sword.
"I told you, I wanted a Machine gun! Not this stupid sword!" He shouted at the vendor.
"Hey, Markov, we got a new mission." I said, he turned around and was about to hit me for interrupting his discussion with the vendor when I continued "From Commander Zavala himself." His fist stopped only inches from my face and inside, I breathed a sigh of relief.
"When do we leave?" He asked.
"In twenty-five minutes...Oh, and bring a sword." I said before heading back to my vault to gather my best gear for the mission. I chose to bring a Night Watch Scout Rifle as my kinetic primary, my newly obtained Riskrunner SMG was my energy weapon of choice, and my Outrageous Fortune Grenade launcher as the power weapon I will carry into battle.
"So, you're packing Sweet Business and Gnawing Hunger? Are you expecting to face the whole HIVE alone?" Sapphire joked as Markov loaded his guns into the storage of his Echo Zero Jumpship.
"Hey, you never know when you'll face a swarm of Thralls in an enclosed space. Plus, the fastest reload always is, switching to your secondary." He shot back, silencing Sapphire with the ancient quote.
I decided to carry my weapons in my inventory instead of in my ships storage so I don't have to waste time retrieving them from my ship when we land, even if it would make flying slightly harder. We took off from the Tower and flew into orbit before jumping to Avalon, arriving behind the planet's moon.
"Scout team, report in." I said on my fireteam's private frequency as we approached the moon.
"Scout one reporting in." responded Sapphire.
"Scout Two reporting in." Markov replied
"Scout leader reporting in." I said "Alright team, lets begin operation BLIND SALVATION." I then gunned my engine and headed around the moon and towards the planet below. The outside of our ships burning from the aerodynamic heating but held strong. Once we reached an altitude of around thirty-five thousand feet from the surface, we began scanning the land below in search of a place to land.
"Guardian, I am detecting a large presence of an unknown energy below." My ghost said via neural link "It appears to be similar to the the Traveler's Light."
"Ghost, can you find a suitable landing site nearby?" I asked him before ordering Sapphire and Markov to circle around the area and provide support if needed.
"There is a field to the east of the energy, setting course to it now." My ghost said before my ship's autopilot (AKA my ghost) took control and flew me down. On the way, I pulled out my Riskrunner and loaded it. When I landed, I had my ghost scan the atmosphere to make sure it was breathable before I exited my jumpship.
"Fireteam Scout, this is Scout leader, do you copy?" I called over the private frequency.
"Scout leader, this is Scout one, we copy over." I heard Sapphire say as her jumpship circled overhead.
"My ghost detected a powerful energy near my location, heading towards it now." I said as I headed west into the unknown.
I decided to switch to my Night Watch Scout Rifle as I neared the source of the energy. I crested a hill and came across a medieval city being besieged by a Fallen raiding party, thankfully the city was built on a mountainside and had an energy shield around it, making it all but impossible for the Fallen to enter. I ordered Sapphire and Markov to take out the raiding party's Skiff while I went super and took care of the ground forces. The raiding party wasn't expecting Guardians and they either tried to retreat or hide when they saw us.
I was massacring the Vandals and Dregs when the Captain of the Raiders charged me, but it only took three hits with my Arc staff\ to take him out. I finished off the remaining Fallen forces before my super ended and pulled out my Scout Rifle before approaching the energy shield.
"Ghost, could you somehow disable the shield?" I asked him as he decloaked and scanned the shield.
"There seems to be no means to disarm the shield from the outside." He said after scanning for a few moments.
"I have an idea that Cayde would have loved." I said before I began to shout while waving my arms "HEY! WE JUST SAVED YOUR CITY! CAN YOU LET US IN?"
"I don't think-" My ghost was interrupted by the shield slowly disappearing. "Hmm, strangely enough that worked."
"That's a Cayde plan for you." I said before entering the city. While walking through a seemingly deserted street, I contacted Sapphire and ordered her to protect my jumpship while Markov would patrol the airspace around the city. "HELLO??? ANYBODY HERE???"
"Stop where you are creature." I heard coming from the street to my left.
"Show yourself or be considered hostile." I said as I turned and pointed my Scout Rifle down the street where the voice originated.
"We are here to escort you to the Princesses." Said a unicorn flanked by two Pegasus, all of them armed with spears and wearing gold armor, as they came down the street.
"Well then, take me to your leader." I said as I stowed Night Watch and began following them.
I entered what appeared to be the throne room and was told to wait by the guards as they left. I decloaked my ghost and had him scan the layout of the building for the best escape route incase things went bad with the Princesses.
"Presenting her royal highnesses, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of the Equestria." said a normal-looking horse before two winged unicorns entered and sat on the twin thrones. One was a dark blue with a mane that resembles the starry night sky, the other was an almost pure white with a rainbow mane that reminded me of the auroras I see whenever I flew over old Russia at night.
"My name is Reaper ninety-nine, Hunter Guardian and defender of the last city of Humanity, it is an honor to make your acquaintance." I said as I went down on one knee.
"Rise, I am Celestia, co-ruler of this land and princess of the sun." The white one said. I stood up and sent a message to Zavala using the neural link with my ghost.
"My name is Luna, princess of the moon and I rule alongside my sister here." Said the blue one.
"Ghost, are these two of the source of the energy?" I asked him as he decloaked and went up to them, scanning as he did.
"Yes guardian, the white one's energy is similar to solar light and the blue one's closely resembles Void energy." He said before cloaking once more.
"What was that?" Asked princess Luna.
"That was my ghost, my robotic helper and a friend." I answered before ghost mentally told me Zavala has sent a reply. I pulled him out and played the message on speaker.
"To those who it may concern, I am Commander Zavala, Titan Vanguard and leader of the guardians. The Hunter before you is the leader of Fireteam scout, my expedition team that was sent from earth to explore this planet. I trust that you will treat him and his team with the respect you give to the leader of another nation as they will act as diplomats in my stead." it said before my ghost went back into my inventory.
"Where is the rest of the team your commander mentioned?" Princess Celestia asked. "And I've been wondering, who were those monsters that attacked earlier?"
"My team is composed of me, Markov the Titan, and Sapphire the Warlock. And those monsters are called the Fallen, they are a band of pirates, scavengers, and raiders that survive off the scrapes of other civilizations."
"You still haven't answered the question of how you defeated them." Princess Luna stated.
"I achieved victory by the grace of the traveler and the power of its light." I answered as cryptically as I could. knowing what the next question would be.
"Who is this traveler you speak of?" She asked.
"To understand the Traveler, I must tell the story from the beginning..." I said before telling the tale of Humanity.