Tale of the Phantom

Chapter 42: Log Entry 133 - 00:32:51

The hanger is a frenzy of movement. Frames and mechanics, shipyard workers buzzing about as if it were a hive and they were the bees. Cayde is leaning on the railing that overlooks the large docking bay reserved for ships due to launch. The feed is over his shoulder, barely catching the rim of his hood and the glow of his eyes. It's focused on the six ships and seven guardians below. Everyone is in gear except one hunter, one with amber lit hair, her black and teal cloak fluttering slightly as a breeze blows through.

The rest of them are identifiable too, despite half of them having already sealed their helmets in place. Noble and Will-7 are speaking with Amanda, while Corvus stands with Skylar, Z, Haar-2, and Winter. Whatever they're saying is lost in the distance, but the reassuring hand Z puts on Skylar's shoulder says enough.

"This isn't easy for her," the strong voice behind them draws the feed's attention as well as Cayde's and they both turn to see Zavala walking up to them. He takes his place near the hunter, arms locked behind his back, their demeanors as different as night and day. The awoken gazes down at the carefully selected team and Cayde hums in agreement, but changes the subject instantly.

"Come to see Winter off? Been a while since she was on a mission of this scale." True enough as the warlock spends most of her time doing missions for the Hidden. Zavala shook his head.

"I have already spoken with her. To do more would make her question my faith in her." The smallest of smirks turns his lips up as he looks at the Exo. "You are avoiding my statement, Does this bother her so much?" his pestering gets a huff from his teammate and Cayde looks down at the team again.

"Of course it does. She's watching her entire family go off on a deadly mission and she's not going with them. It wasn't easy for her to realize she's just not up for it." His eyes dim as he speaks, frowning as he thinks on past events. "She won't admit it, but she was terrified when everything went wrong on her mission to get that stuff from Crota's lair. I don't think she let herself realize that until her team took down Oryx's physical form." He trapped a gloved finger on the railing. "She said she didn't want to be a liability."

"Even without that we could hardly ask her to do more. Despite what happen to her with Crota she helped in this battle far more than any of us expected," the commander pointed out. "We owe her an even greater deal, more than we did before, and whatever doubts we might have had she's more than managed to erase that. Perhaps more so with this decision. One must always know where their limits are."

"Well, she really likes her new sword so you can put that towards her bill," Cayde muses, shifting his weight. "And I never doubted her, I worried about her - those are two very different things."

Zavala just chuckled at that. "And I stand by my earlier statement: she's good for you, but perhaps, it is the other way around as well."

"Well I did teach her everything she knows."

"That is not what I speak of and you know it Cayde."

The Exo made a sound of somewhat agreement, blinking as he stared out over the bay again. "I know," he murmured. It was true, both hunters had changed over time and it could be easily said that it was because of the other that certain things had happened. Skylar had said as much once. "Looks like they're heading out."

The feed pans away from the Vanguard members back to the guardians below. Indeed it would appear they are saying their final words. Skylar fist bumps Z and Haar and hugs Winter, the motion is somehow longer than intended and the scrunch of the hunter's eyebrows are a telling tale of worry and regret. Still, she let's go and exchanges words with Corvus before he turns and his Ghost transports him into his ship. The others do the same and Skylar is forced to take a few steps back as engines roar and hum into action. Then, in sequence, each star cruiser shoots off into the sky, leaving one member behind.