Adopted Nikos Volume 4 (A New Dawn)

The Old Man

Alarms blared in his ears, the ancient Jumpship shuddering as it rocketed across the sky in a steady, descending course. He glimpses a towering mountain through the "windows" of the cockpit, which is in truth live video feeds from cameras on the hull.

He curses as the ship banks violently to the right, Arc blasts from their pursuer's cannons scorching the underside of the Arcadia-class Jumpship, "Archive, we need to get out of here!"

"I'm working on it!" the Ghost replies from immaterialness, connected to the controls of the ship and desperately attempting to keep them alive, "Skiffs are surprisingly maneuverable!"

"Not dying now, comments on Fallen ships late-guh!" a harsh impact cuts the Hunter short.

"Direct hit, I've lost the primary thrusters!" Archive exclaims, sounding frantic as the ship's gradual descent devolves into a nosedive, "Crash imminent! Brace! Brace! Brace!"

Omni tightly grips the armrests of the pilot's seat, the last view out the cockpit window being that towering mountain before the Jumpship slams into the canopy of the forest. For a few seconds, the ship rattles through the trees, shattering branches and cleaving through trunks until, with a crash, it slams into the earth.

The Guardian is thrown forward in his seat by the momentum, head crashing against the console, and everything goes dark.

|/\/\/\|

He had first seen the craft when the Temple's sensors had detected its approach.

Again, when the Fallen Skiffs descended on it and engaged the craft in a frantic chase.

And now, he watches as the craft crashes into the forest near the base of the great mountain.

The man hums, reflecting on the iff the ship had emitted: Guardian.

With a sigh that scatters as frost on the wind, he heads down from the mountain.

|/\/\/\|

He awoke to the sound of many heavy feet climbing over the ship. Pulling off his shattered helmet with great difficulty, his sensitive primary ears pick up barked commands in an alien language. It was all muted, though, like he was underwater.

A light comes into being over him, his golden eyes wearily looking up to meet the optic of his Ghost. The shell twitches in a way the Hunter has long since associated as the equivalent of someone moving their lips to speak, but he cannot hear the words. A dull roar grows louder in his ears, thoughts fuzzy and black spots in his vision.

As such, he barely notices when the alien sounds outside turn frantic. Muted gunfire and alien shouts, followed closely by a muffled roar of flame that fills the Guardian with warmth despite the shell of the Jumpship encasing him.

Light pierces into the darkness of the cockpit as a heavily armored hand pries it open. The Hunter squints, blinded until a large shape blocks the sun and that same armored hand reaches in.

With a shaky hand, the boy reaches out to grasp the forearm of his savior, who hauls him out of the warped ship. He loses consciousness again before he can see who saved him.

|/\/\/\|

When Omni wakes up, for the third time that day, it is not outside the great walls of the Cosmodrome. Nor within the ruins of a crashed Jumpship. Before he even opened his eyes, he knew he wasn't outside anymore. Call it a Hunter's intuition, but he had a gut feeling the lack of cold meant he was indoors.

Golden eyes open and stare up at a ceiling of stone. Not bricks, but solid stone, like someone had dug into the mountain and fashioned it into a home. Or a fort, judging by how sturdy everything seemed.