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Chapter 3: The Eternal Questions

Allen

Allen pulled the pin on a smoke flare, tossing it to the side of the fortress. Sweat beaded along his brow and fatigue hung to him like a beggar, but his still had to see the mission out. He felt a tap on his shoulder before Xyan joined him, looking at the replacement team flying in to let them get rest.

There was a moments pause before Allen said, "Does it ever get easy?"

Xyan blinked, as if waking from a trance. "Depends," He rumbled, seeing the guardians phase onto the ground from their ships, "What do you mean?"

A gloved hand raised, he gestured out at the cleared expanse of the former battlefield. "Any of it? War, loss, anger, regret? Are we all damned, or are we just... waiting for the right time to come back?"

Xyan paused for a length of time, forming a good answer. But before he could speak, Doran stepped in. "I say we choose what we will for what we believe. And I believe what we make here, and now, is what decides whether there is hope for our future." Allen chuckled, "Okay mister hopeful, thanks for that bit of insight. I was just asking cause, between the three of us, what's really all this fighting worth if we just keep losing ground? We're down to the Tower area, for all that we know. I just.. I just don't want to fight a lost cause."

Allen watched their ships fly in, and heard a chirp from his ghost. "Right, if everyone's ready, there is an extremely pissed wolf waiting for us in orbit. The tower officials took care of Wilkins, so we best not keep him waiting."

He chuckled. "Well, what do you say guys? I've got a lot of fight left in me, and I'm not burning any less bright any time soon." With that, Allen jumped off the tower, being transported mid jump so that he was gone before he hit the ground.

Doran

The blue dragon chuckled as Allen leapt from the building, shaking his head. "Guy knows how to make an exit. Shall we join him?"

Xyan eyed his fellow dragon, both of them having shed their helmets for the moment with the fighting seeming to have waned. "Did you really mean all that? Is that really what you believe, about how what we do now is what decides if there's hope?"

Doran smiled softly, idly inspecting his helmet, brushing some dust from the metal plates and feeling the indentations of some new bullet dents with his gloved fingers. "It is. Laugh if you like, I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but it gives me purpose. And through purpose, strength. I have to believe we're doing it for something, otherwise what else is there to drive us? Anger and revenge? They'll burn bright enough for a while, but not long enough. Hope burns longer and much more steadily. What about you, Titan?"

Xyan gave a soft grunt, but softened the gruff noise with a small smile of his own. "I don't know. For so long now I've just kept my head down and focused on getting from one kill to the next. Tried not to think any deeper than that. But... I might be ready to give it another shot."

The Warlock grinned and straightened, giving a nod to his Ghost that they were ready to go. "All things considered, that sounds like a pretty good result."

With that, the two dragons vanished into their own transmat beams, joining their comrades in orbit for the flight back to the Tower.

Allen

The tower was buzzing with chatter as the group flew back in. With Wilkins in the lead, and Allen bringing up the rear, he was almost mobbed by guardians who greeted them as they shifted into the tower commons. Wilkins, who still had bandages wrapped around his shoulder and chest, winked over at the stallion. "Hehe, guess news of your success got here fast."

Allen Blinked, and replied in a shouting voice, "My Success!? Hell, you guys did twice as much as I did!" The group, on the shoulders of their allies in the tower, were more or less unceremoniously dumped at the steps while they took positions for a more formal celebration. The icing on the fictional cake came in the form of the speaker, walking out to the shock of the crowd. "Guardians," came his old and soft voice, "You four have been causing quite a stir. From what I hear, you four took on a legion of fallen that would have given a fire team of twenty a nightmare of trouble. Your bravery and heroism is not overlooked by our leaders."

Then, the Tower masters approached, each bearing an engram that gleamed pure golden yellow in the sun's rays. "Guardians. Your rewards. Take them To Master Rahul, your bravery and honor to the Traveller is more than payment enough." As they spoke, they handed everyone in Allen and Dorans team an engram, before returning to their alcove.

Their departure was met with mass cheering and play, most guardians envy turning to mild joking at what they may get.

Doran

Doran's eyes lit up at the promising golden gleam of the engrams, grinning widely. "Oooh... I'm eager to find out what this is." He looked over at the kiosk that Master Rahul kept on behalf of the Cryptarchs across the crowded plaza, then shot his companions a mischievous grin. "Race ya?" he offered, shrugging his wings free of his heavy coat.

The other three all opened their mouths to answer the challenge, when a siren blared across the Tower plaza and the voice of the head Titan Vanguard, Commander Zavala, cut across the celebration. "All Guardians, this is an urgent call to arms. Multiple Fallen Ketches have emerged in low orbit directly above the Last City and are entering combat formations. This may be an attack on the Tower or the Traveller itself. All available Guardian's report to your ships immediately and ascend to orbit to engage the enemy."

The four frowned and looked at each other, Doran refolding his wings and then gazing skyward. "Guess we'll have to wait a bit longer to decode our new surprises."

Allen

Allen was first to orbit, and quickly took stock of the situation. Three Ketches, with smaller drop ships acting as defense escorts. He grinned savagely, and as he saw the arriving guardians, gave himself a moment to think. Well, Doran, We've got guns and we've got brains. Lets see if we can make our own hope for a while. He broke from his thoughts as Jake notified that the rest of his fireteam entered orbit. He turned on his radio and gave a report.

"Incoming Fallen Ketches! All guardians in orbit, dip and dodge! We're on this! For the light of the Traveler and the defense of the Tower!!!" Allen cut the channel and switched to the fireteam chat. "Okay, ready to get back into this?!" With all the excitement he felt, he then added, "If that's a no, then let's rock this!" He then switched on a song, and over the chat as his spaceship raced to the large enemy cruiser he sang,

"Now when I was just a little boy,

Standin' on my daddies knee,

My poppa said, son, don't let the man get ya',

do what he done to me!..."

The End..?