From Dusk to Dust (Destiny Fan Fiction)

25-When It Falls

"Who's to say this alien isn't like the others?" Governor Mihn questioned furiously.

The fireteam wasn't even ten minutes into the meeting with the intergalactic council before all of them began bickering back and forth on what needed to be done. The only councilors present were the three they had met last time, Mihn, Wicco, and Rosaline. The other governors never showed up, or, unfortunately for them, were dead.

Alaura bit her tongue hard and accidentally drew some blood. She focused her fiery eyes at the governor and defended herself, "I'm the same person you met before, and if you aren't fine with it, then so be it." I'm here to save humanity. Not get your damn approval.

Malachi tossed in his own opinion, "The end of the fucking world is at your door step, and you've been fighting with us over Alaura's looks. Priorities, right?" He stood up from his chair abruptly and sauntered over to stand with the rest of the group. "Just give us a goddamn army and we'll be out of your pretentious hair."

A small scowl settled over Alaura's features. She forced herself to not look his way and stayed on topic. "What my teammate means is if you give us some soldiers to fight with, it'll make everything easier for us. We can save more people. Teach them how to fight these aliens you so desperately need to get rid of."

Governor Rosaline shook her head before stating, "We need all the men we have on those front lines. There are only a handful of cities left. They are our only hope of saving those civilians."

Tanis had stayed quiet for too long. Nothing was getting through to the council, and what they couldn't waste was time. They desperately needed it to plan and act. Words clawed their way through his mind and out of his mouth, "We are the soldiers' only hope of surviving. Even if you don't allow some to join us, we can send a message out to the bases about how to defeat these things."

There wasn't enough of anything. Soldiers, safety, tactics, or even time. Orders weren't getting out quick enough, but even then, some bases wouldn't respond. The galaxy fell apart at too quick of a rate. Mihn locked eyes with the Exo Hunter in the room. He tilted his head up a bit and corrected his posture before addressing him, "Echo IX, what do you have to say about all of this?"

Echo IX looked around at the people around him. Was this actually a question? He'd given his word once. Why did he have to again? Did the council not trust him? He leaned back in the chair he sat in and motioned towards the fireteam. "Give them the army. This fireteam is more capable of leading than you think." There had to be something more. He drizzled some icing on the cake to perfect his answer, "It'll buy you some time to get somewhere safe."

Alaura threw her arms out, motioning to her teammates while letting out some pent up anger. She built onto what Echo said, "We are the best chance to defeating whatever The Darkness is, or at least hold off what comes from it."

A dead silence settled in for a few moments. The governors agreed with what she said, but none of them wanted to come forward and admit it. Governor Wicco wrung his hands, keeping his eyes trained on something in the room. He let out a short breath and concluded, "Your attacks were more successful than our army's. Most soldiers retreated to aid the civilians to safety, rather than dying on the battlefield. I don't blame them."

Governor Mihn snarled, "That still makes them deserters."

"I don't think you understand the meaning of that word," Governor Rosaline shot back. Mihn glared at her, but she stared right back. She wasn't scared of him.

Wicco ignored the other two and moved on, "Which one of you is the fireteam leader?"

That was a good question. None of them have considered that before. All three guardians thought back to the past and how they worked together. They didn't fit together like puzzle pieces, but they came close to it. Malachi glanced at his team and was the first to come up with an answer, "There isn't one. We're a team"