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Sefi-18 dutifully polished their Hammerhead heavy machine gun as they waited in an abandoned campsite above the EDZ's Salt Mine. This was where Brigid-2 said to meet, right? They looked at their ghost idly buzzing nearby. Sensing them doubting themself, their ghost Lucky rocked up and down in something like a nod before returning to some scraps here and there next to the cliff edge. "Y'know, I think the Young Wolf came through here not too long ago." He said idly to break the silence.
"...Really? The hell were they doing out here? Shouldn't they be shooting some Hive gods somewhere or blowing up the pyramids instead of dicking around here?"
"Maybe there was a hidden artifact here? Or maybe they stopped by to meet with friends as well…" Lucky bobbed closer in what must've been a ghost equivalent of sardonically leaning in.
"Wasn't aware our savior HAD friends. It'd suck to be the ignored two thirds of a legendary hero's fireteam..." Sefi replied in a surly tone. They appreciated having a ghost that wouldn't let them get away with self pity and such but he could be a nuisance. "What's taking those two anyway?"
As if on cue, Brigid-2 popped into existence two feet behind Sefi with an electronic VZZZHHH and a slight breeze. Sefi leapt up and whirled around with a half charged ball of violet light in their left hand. They let it go and relaxed just as quickly. "Heya!" Brigid announced herself with a quick wave, exuding cheerfulness unbecoming of someone who came that close to getting vaporized.
"You seriously showed up late to your own meetup?" Sefi grumbled.
Brigid pouted audibly - her robotic features made that particular face difficult - "I'll have you know my last match ran into overtime!"
"Dja win?" Sefi responded, sitting back down and touching their chin thoughtfully.
"Sadly no. It was Survival and down to the two of us, tied 3 rounds to 3, and I thought I had him flat footed and out of ammo but that sneaky hunter drew down on me and dropped me with 3 shots so fast you'd have sworn that handcannon was equipped with burst fire. I should look him up and find out how he did that!"
"B, that sounds like he was cheating."
"Nonsense, that's ridiculous. Who'd try and cheat in a friendly Crucible match?"
Sefi responded to that with an unimpressed expression before changing topics, "so what's up? Are you going to drag us back to try and make it to The Lighthouse? I don't care if we get to meet Saint-14 himself, that shit isn't worth it. Some of those guys DEFINITELY cheat and Vance doesn't give a fuck about actually enforcing the rules so it keeps getting worse. I swear on the Traveler one of those guys last time was ACTUALLY USING THORN. THE THORN."
"Ok you might be right there because I had to get rid of that helmet I wore for that match. My ghost couldn't even patch it back up… I'm just glad it didn't go all the way through because then-"
"You'd be dead," replied a low voice in an even, detached tone. "Real shit dead not in time out. And for the record it was a replica. Real thing woulda sailed straight through your head, dragging circuits and some of your Light out with it." From the nearby mineshaft, a cloaked lithe shadow emerged.
"Oh hey Gella! Thanks for showing up!" Brigid happily exclaimed, with as much enthusiasm as if she'd been surprised with a plate of Gjallardoodles. She ignored the pointed reminder of her artificial body. Everyone has shortcomings, after all.
Any artifice or gravitas thoroughly blown away by the unstoppable force of the titan's cheerfulness, Gella dropped her hood and sat down next to Sefi with an acknowledging nod. "So I guess based on what I heard we're not going to Mercury. First, good. I hate it there. Too hot and it's fuckin creepy. Second-"
Sefi turned and interrupted by blurting out, "Wait how long have you been- how much did you hear?!"
Annoyed at her train of thought being broken, the hunter responded curtly, "Definitely nothing about you pining for your frigid girlfriend at your Ghost."
"Hey! You take that back. Ada's great! And nice… And anyway it's not like that! We just have a strong working relationship."
At that, Gella fixed her gaze on the flustered warlock and merely let out an unimpressed "Uhuh. From her end at least, I agree." After a couple moments she tried to rerail her train of thought. "Secondly- wait… shit. I had something. Whatever, I'm also a no vote for Trials. I hate fighting things that don't stay dead."
Sefi, eager to get their dignity back responded, "We literally last week deployed to fight that Fanatic weirdo and I remember you GLEEFULLY pulping him with a grenade launcher after he died."
"... Y'got me. N'my defense he was really annoying though. Wouldn't shut up at all, just on and on about how we're murderers n' shit even though Scorn are just stubborn corpses anyway."
"I'll give you that one."
Satisfied that their banter had reached a natural stopping point, Brigid cut in with, "actually I was thinking we'd make a house call! I made a friend around here and he could use some reassurance."
At that, Sefi and Gella both looked at each other then back to Brigid. Sefi was first to talk "You made a friend… out here…? Are they… human?"
"Better out here than in a weird storage room next to that con artist." Gella jabbed.
"Hey you leave my Ada out of this!" Responded Sefi, who would certainly be turning red if not for being an Exo. "Ugh whatever. What's your friend's name?"
"I don't know!" Crowed Brigid. After a lingering beat, Gella and Sefi looked at each other, then back to Brigid. Brigid continued, “actually, I’m not sure he knows either. He’s a newly risen Guardian! … or, like, kinda- he's younger than you, Sefi!” Sefi could only facepalm at a that probably-inadvertent dig.
“Oh no, really? We’re gonna go hang out with a kinderguardian? Whatever. If it’ll make you happy, I’ll make nice with the newbie,” replied Gella with infinite resignation.
"Well… he's not a typical new guardian. He- disable your weapons for me ok?" Sefi and Gella shared a more concerned look now. Brigid moved to gesticulate, but whatever thought precipitated it died before being voiced. She hung her head briefly. Sefi recognized it. She was trying to find her words, but it was clear how much she believed in it.
"Ok. I trust you. I'll still have my Light and Ghost anyway." Sefi replied with a breeziness that felt almost forced. "You got me, right Lucky?" Sefi's ghost did a twirl in his astronomical chart-looking shell. They passed their bow, machine gun, and shotgun to their ghost as each weapon disappeared into its constituent Light. "Take care of Le Monarque and Hammerhead though, right? We're seeing Ada later."
Gella rolled her eyes and passed her handcannon and grenade launcher to her ghost. "Marbas can handle those. But this-" Gella patted the bone-furniture sniper rifle slung across her back "- stays with me. Marbas can't render it back to Light easily."
That earned a look from Sefi but Gella's sniping had saved all of them on more than one occasion. And regardless, if the Praxics had noticed any of them they'd all have been burned, likely literally. The law was superseded by fear now that the pyramids had appeared, and the Praxics were quick to sniff out "dissent". Likewise, patrol fireteams wanted every advantage they could get against the forces of Darkness, even if that edge came from suspect sources. Their enemies certainly didn’t have any compunctions about using the Darkness to fight other Dark-aligned creatures. Anyway, trust was the foundation of every fireteam, and they each trusted that everyone had put questionable alliances far behind them. They defended The City and each other and to them, that was enough.
The awkward moment passed without comment, as Brigid never noticed Sefi’s glance. They all boarded Brigid’s ship without comment. She was the one that operated a full-sized dropship, so she could ferry them all to their destination. Regardless, it’d be seconds to drop in near the Cosmodrome. Sefi felt a shiver up their spine - or whatever cybernetic equivalent filled the role now - thinking about their first days after being revived there. The Fallen were stronger then, or maybe Sefi had grown markedly since. Regardless, they even evaded Dregs at that point. Before they found decent armor, even a Dreg’s shot could punch straight through their chest. They woke up with vague memories of Golden Age science fiction, and those aliens were generally much friendlier. It seems that after The Traveler arrived, humans struggled to imagine space as terrifying. In light of the digging they’d done since, Sefi resented how the triumphalism of that era poorly prepared humanity for the Collapse, barring the inevitable paranoiacs like the Black Armory trio. And even they didn't start arming themselves until proof of malevolent aliens came to light. Sefi guessed that the humans and Exos who had dealt with Vex never got to talk about it.
As they felt the craft begin to decelerate, Sefi noticed that they'd never left the atmosphere. That meant Brigid was concerned about air defenses more than getting there quickly. No matter how many dregs flung themselves at Guardians' guns, they still were thick in the old Cosmodrome. They wondered what the Eliksni had dubbed it the area. It factored so much into Sol-born Eliksni history, so it must have a name to them. The dropship skimmed low and its onboard transmat delivered the trio not far from a haphazard jumble of old shipping containers. Bizarre that they'd be here this far from either spacecraft or ships. Maybe they had a purpose at some point before the Collapse. Only one of the shipping containers was unlocked in some fashion. The three stepped in to find a smattering of old belongings, broken armor, and a few random keepsakes. Dust motes floated in the light let into the container by their presence. "Huh. Guess he's out. We'd best wait outside then…" Brigid began before Gella dropped into a crouch and peered.
"We're being watched through a scope," Gella said with a level tone. "Due East at the crest of that hill by the dead tree. Looks like a Hunter. He's tense."
"Ok, let's see…" Brigid said with an unconcerned air unbecoming of a battlefield. "Pffft. That's my buddy. HEYYYY!"
The Hunter on the hill glanced around in fear and advanced carefully across the intervening open ground, weapon still in hand but not held at the ready. He was still twitchy, acting like a normal soldier rather than with the off-putting casualness that Guardians typically exuded near danger. If the fear of death changes people, its total absence was even more marked. Once near enough to speak low and be heard, the Hunter spoke, "I- you know I'm not good around other Guardians. Who're these two?" His words were slightly altered by the helmet he wore but he was unmistakably not an Exo.
"Ahhhh, come onnn! You trust me, right? Well I trust these two with mine AND my Ghost's life. Plus I made them put their weapons away."
The unknown Guardian pointed at Gella's sniper rifle with a bare, blue finger. Definitely an Awoken. "What's that then??"
"She says it's not really storable. More importantly it's not useful at this range."
Gella snidely mumbled, "I've hit closer shots."
To which Brigid turned and hissed, "Stop that. Not helping." Gella merely put her hands up in mock surrender.
"Look, I just came to get a few things. I've got business elsewhere and I want to keep them with me," the Awoken Hunter replied, crossing his arms impatiently.
"Sorry, I didn't want to be a pain. I just wanted to check in on you, see how you're doing," Brigid said with a bit of defeat in her voice.
The Awoken man moved his hand as though he were going to absentmindedly pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration but his fingers simply glanced off the polymers of the armor and elicited a quick headshake. The man's ghost popped out to look at him, softly cajoling the Hunter with, "it might be good for you to socialize with some safe Guardians now. Better them than our usual company. Besides, Brigid was good to us last time."
The Awoken Hunter looked back at his Ghost and visibly slackened with resignation. "I suppose we've got time," he mumbled. He motioned quietly towards a nearby bombed-out building. There were a few scavenged chairs, a table, and just enough walls to support the vaguest semblance of a roof. The Awoken man gestured towards the seating in a silent invitation to sit down, and the trio obliged.
Brigid was, naturally, the first to speak. "So, have you settled on a name yet? Last we spoke I recall that neither of you were set."
"Crow is what I go by now," he replied with a sliver of resentment. "I'm told people who knew me might find that funny somehow but I'm in no rush to understand the joke."
His Ghost bobbed in the air next to him and cheerfully offered that he was now going by Glint.
"Oh that suits you so much better than the nickname they'd given you before. Still not sure what that was even supposed to mean," Brigid chirped, but her mood changed when she caught a glimpse of Glint's shell. Specifically, she'd noticed the scuffed panel and extraneous wires. "Hey, mind me asking what happened there?"
Glint and Crow exchanged a look before Glint haltingly answered, "I uh… I'd rather not… it's not something I'd like to talk about."
Awkward silence hung over the gathering for a few moments before Sefi awkwardly interjected, "Uh, I'm Sefi-18 by the way - Sefi works fine - and my friend here is-"
"Gella. How'd you meet Brigid?" She was sitting arms and legs both crossed. A casual pose that still firmly expressed that any small talk she offered was only for Brigid and Sefi's sake.
Brigid laughed slightly and said, "Oh. I was on patrol and found the two of them pinned down. A few flaming hammers later and I was helping Crow here get to his feet. He wasn't dead but was definitely close to it. Fortunately his Ghost was then safe enough to help out."
Gella could immediately suss out that Brigid's story was lacking details. Details she was usually far too happy to provide. "And what was it that had him pinned down out here that you could clear up so easily? I can tell he's not that much weaker than you. Something doesn't fit here…" Crow tensed and Brigid froze.
Glint finally broke the silence. "They were… other Guardians."
Sefi sat forward with sudden interest and blurted out, "Whoah… wait, why? Dark Guardians don't usually-"
Brigid cut in, "it's… they were normal Guardians."
With steel in her voice, Gella shot back "just who exactly is your friend here? His Ghost isn't a Dark Guardian's Ghost - not traumatized or crazy enough - so why the fuck was he getting attacked?"
Feeling tensions quickly rising, Brigid looked to Crow and back to her fireteam. Finally, Crow responded by moving to take off his helmet. It was going in a bad direction anyway and he figured that it was best if he ripped the bandage off. He'd discovered that, as badly as Guardians tended to react to his face, they usually reacted worse if they caught him hiding it and found out later. With a smooth motion, he pulled his helmet off and ran a hand through his hair to shake out some of the helmet hair. If he was going to die trying yet again to reconnect with other Lightbearers at Glint's behest, he would at least do so with some dignity.
Stunned silence filled the tumbledown ruin they were occupying. Despite only having about two and a half walls, the room all of a sudden felt very small. Nobody was quite sure what to do for a few moments, though the atmosphere was palpably souring fast. Brigid was first to react. "Ohhhhhh I'm sorry, Crow. I just wanted to get them to meet you in case you'd need backup ever. I hoped it'd go better."
"I'm not grievously injured yet. It's already better than most such incidents," he replied with a slightly acid edge. Glint and Guy moved into the middle of the four, as though their small round bodies could block anything.
As the proverbial fuse burned closer and closer to it's obvious endpoint, Sefi took a long, slow breath before speaking with a wavering voice. "No Guardian is revived with memories of their past life. We're born anew in The Traveler. What your past self did is immaterial. You're a fellow Guardian. My comrade. I'll always help an honest Guardian- er, Lightbearer in need." They'd started speaking as though to convince themself, but as they spoke each word aloud, they gained confidence.
Gella, on the verge of exploding, jumped up, turning to Sefi and Brigid, "I- he's- you both can't be serious!" She was nearly spitting with rage. "He-"
Sefi put their hand on Gella's arm as a calming gesture and spoke calmly and evenly, "He did nothing to deserve what you're feeling right now. Look at him and tell me you're going to hold that grudge closer than your faith in the Light? Than your trust in The Traveler?"
Gella dropped into her chair forcefully, resigning from the argument but still filing her complaint with the abrupt force of sitting. Silence again hung heavy for a moment, but Glint looked around with an almost infectious, earnest hope. Crow exhaled with relief when the worst was avoided and said, "it's been… a genuine pleasure to meet you two. If I'm ever in need of help, I'll try to contact you. And I hope you'll do the same. I'd hate to be a burden."
"He's not being sarcastic by the way! I know it might be hard to tell, but I'm good at reading it now," hastily added Glint, to which Crow buried his face in his hand briefly before he composed himself.
"Yes, well. Even with the tense beat just then, this was still better than our typical company. You have… no idea how low our standards for friendly discussion are. Most of the Eliksni of the Reef are … Unfriendly to us natives. Come, we should get moving. The Baron expects us back soon."
Brigid jolted as she remembered something she'd lost. She interrupted his thought a little more loudly than necessary with, "Oh! Before you go I wanted to give you this! I picked it up in The City when I was there last. Apparently it's really good but I'm not much of a drinker. But I hoped, if you've made any other friends, maybe you can share this with them. It's Dawning soon, after all. I hope this year's better for you." Brigid handed Crow a velvety bag concealing a bottle of whiskey.
Crow's expression was a mask, though it seemed as though his eyes were growing a little red. He replied, with a slight hitch, "I- thank you. I hope I'll have more liberty to enjoy company soon. We're all unfortunately rather busy right now. Glint and I are kept on a tight leash, I'm afraid. Still. Hopefully there will be some quiet moments soon. Please take care. Sefi, Gella. It was a genuine pleasure." He quickly strode off toward the container dwelling the fireteam had approached previously.
Glint turned to look at him briefly before returning his gaze to address the trio, "Brigid, I… We don't have many friends, Lightbearer or not. Crow isn't much for baring his emotions, but I think he needed that kindness. Especially right now. I hope we can meet again soon."
Brigid merely responded with a tinge of sadness, "I wish I could do more. Stay safe out there. Both of you."
Glint dipped a little to acknowledge and shot off after Crow. A couple moments passed and the telltale flash of transmat emanated from the container. After a few quiet moments, Gella spoke up, "So you know the damned Prince of the Awoken huh?"
Brigid could only reply quietly, "no. I just know a Guardian who's fallen on bad times through no fault of his own."
"I can tell that. Got a look at his Ghost. Little guy's rigged with something. And if the Baron he mentioned is the one I'm thinking of, he's in deep. In a real bad way."
"You don't think-" Brigid began before being interrupted by Gella.
"There's really only one self-styled kingpin in that region who likes to do sick shit like that to Ghosts. Your boy's in dangerous company, and not by choice."
Brigid and Sefi were left to contemplate that thought quietly as the Siberian wind blew quietly through the grass and debris around them.