We called it, The Traveler. And its arrival changed us forever. Great cities were built, on Mars and Venus. Mercury became a garden world, human lifespan tripled. It was a time of miracles. We stared out at the galaxy and knew that it was our destiny to walk in the light of other stars. But the Traveler had an enemy. A darkness, which had hunted it for eons across the black gulfs of space. Centuries after our 'golden age' began, this darkness, found us.
And that was the end of everything.
But it was also, a beginning.
-The Speaker.
Scanning.
Scanning.
Scanning.
Endless traveler-loving scanning.
"C'mon, c'mon, you gotta be somewhere." The whisper came from a small floating being no bigger than a human's fist. Its outer shell twitched and rotated as it floated in the air, a blue beam of light being emitted from its spherical center as it scanned the rusted remnants of a car. "I'll search every pebble if I have to." The scan yielded nothing, which came as no surprise to the little thing. Despite not having any organic parts, let alone lungs, it sighed and moved on to the car in front of the one it had finished with. Flying low, aware that somewhere, out of sight, it was being watched curiously.
Ghosts they were called, made by the last breath of the great Traveler. The enigmatic thing that hovered over Earth and gave power to those it considered 'worthy'. Ghosts were meant to seek out the worthy, to claim one as their own and give them the power of Light. The light was a wonderful, terrible power that brought the dead back to life, void of memory and name to serve in a war as long as time itself. Light verses Darkness. Good verses Evil. Although this was on a different level, beings of all kinds had heard of this kind of war. This cycle had gone on for centuries, and no one could predict the end-not even the Speaker, who spoke for the Traveler and preached to those of humanity who would listen.
Another scan.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Wait.
The blue symbol in the center of the Ghost blinked like an eye, shaped like its outer shell. It blinked again. The ghost gasped, floating back a little as something caught its scan, sending a jolt through its tiny body. A hand. THE hand.
The hand of his guardian.
"Is it possible?"
The ghost flew through the broken window and followed the scan: hand, wrist, an arm grasping the remains of a rifle. The ghost twitched in excitement and barked out a harsh laugh of triumph.
"HA! I knew I'd find you!"
A shrill, strained wail cut through the air and reminded the little light of the present danger. The ghost flew slightly higher, coming out of the frame of the car to scan the rest of the body. Whoever they had been, they were trying to defend themselves before they perished. They had been crouched on the right side of the car, holding a rifle, long since rusted into useless junk. They had fallen here. And here they would rise.
The ghost extended itself, its blue light stretching into the size of a basketball, its outer shell broke off into pieces, rotating and twisting on its outer wall as it focused on the forgotten remains of a warrior. It pulled the light in close to its center, closing its faux blue eye as it forced the light into the body with a push that came in a blinding light.
\\\
Nothing.
Darkness all around and at the edges of the beyond.
A muffle noise, far away and soft but slowly becoming louder, clearer as it repeated itself over and over.
"Guardian?" A voice, soft and thick as if coming from above water, "Guardian?" Clearer now, stern but a hint of fear. "Guardian? Eyes up guardian."
An eye slowly opened, adjusting to the light as darkness began to fade away. Layer after layer of color and form returned to the eye as a second opened. Stiffness plagued the arms and legs of the body as it pulled itself upright, leaning heavily against the frame of the car. A floating thing came into their sight, catching them by surprise. It was somewhat small but flew with ease without the use of wings or an engine. Twitching its backside every so often a degree or so. Its blue center blinked, and the shell twitched in the front as it spoke, moving with words in place of lips.
"It worked!" It twitched, its shell extending slightly, "You're alive!" The body tried to push away from the car, only to slump against it again in a rush of vertigo, legs still stiff as stone. "You don't know how long I've been looking for you..." The little thing lamented, floating closer to their face, "I suppose you have no idea what's going on..." They shook their head slowly, studying the little machine. "I'm a Ghost." A soft, warm chuckle escaped it, "Actually now, I'm your Ghost." It trailed off as they looked around, studying the snowy area around them. The cars left on the interstate, every single one rusted, rotten and left to crumble with the faded memory of a time so lost it was merely rumors. "You've been dead a long time." The little blue eye like thing blinked and seemed to glance down their body. "Let's get you dressed."
The shell extended again, and the body felt a tingle before warmth settled over them. When they looked down, they could see a set of clothing over them, slightly too small, but it granted more warmth than what they had been wearing a moment ago. Closer inspection told them it wasn't simple clothing they were wearing but armor, complete with a helmet on their head.
"You're going to see and hear a lot of things you won't understand at first, but you'll learn." A roar in the distance caused it to drop down low and on instinct, so did their guardian, taking refuge behind the car. "We won't last long out here alone," It twitched, "I have to get you to the Last City, to the Vanguard and the Speaker."
Another roar echoed across the land and the spooked guardian silently agreed, nodding their head. The ghost flew away, slowly climbing higher before dropping down to their guardian's head height and tilted in a way that resembled a nod. "Normally I'd tell you to get on your sparrow but we don't have one...yet..." It twitched again as the silent guardian stared at them, his reflection in the helmet blinking. "And no ship to fly either...this isn't good..." He sighed again and tilted his shell to the ground, flying in small circles as if pacing.
"If only we had some help..." A thought must have come to the little drone, as it froze in place and then flew up close to the helmet excitedly. "Maybe we can find some other guardians nearby! The Cosmodrome usually has someone milling about!" The ghost flew backward and extended itself again. Smaller pieces of its shell twisting and rotating in the back while the larger pieces floated in the front on the edge of the blue light. "Hm...I'm picking up on some signals, but they're too weak. They wouldn't be able to hear me from here." It replaced its shell and twitched, fitting it back into its preferred place. " If we get closer, they should be able to hear us. Hold still." The ghost vanished in a blink of light. The guardian jerked around, trying to find their strange companion. "Don't worry, I'm still with you. Just think of me as being in your backpack for now." Their guardian relaxed, flexing their hands in the gloves as they moved away from the car and into the open, scanning the area around them.
Cars dotted the nearby area, but nature had succeeded in reclaiming what it had lost. Trees, bushes, flowers, and dirt had erased all but the frames of the vehicles left behind. They stumbled down a small knoll, adjusting themselves once again to their own limbs. "We need to move, fast. If we don't the Fallen will catch up to us. But we should be relatively safe once we get inside The Wall." The guardian turned left, "No, to your right." The Guardian turned slightly, "Right." They turned again, "Right." The patient ghost told them again as they kept turning. Then they saw it.
A huge mishmash of metal sheets and bars, poles and pillars stretching so high they couldn't imagine how many people would have to stand on their shoulders to reach the top. Solar panels seemed to line part of the wall, and the remains of windows by what looked to be some sort of large entrance. The guardian stretched their legs as they walked, trying to shake the lead feeling from them so they could move more quickly, "Try running." The ghost's voice told them, to which they stopped and gave the air a confused look. "Just trust me."
The guardian sighed and started jogging, the feeling of their limbs shaking to life with each step until they were sprinting between cars, sending flocks of birds into flight as they ran past. A sidewalk rose into view and a dot appeared in their vision, "Don't worry, its just me, I marked the location on in your visor so you can see where we need to go next. Don't want to get lost in here."
The guardian followed the sidewalk as it rose from the dirt, leading into what had once appeared to be a gate for vehicles to drive through. Signs had fallen from their perch; in a language the guardian couldn't read. Following the line of sight, they found a broken set of doors, revealing a staircase leading up and further into the wall.
The guardian tried to speak, but nothing came out, they put a hand to their throat and rubbed, trying again. A strained noise caused them to stop and shake their head.
"Uh-oh," the ghost said softly, "Something's wrong. I can bring you back if you di...fall again but, well, this is a bit out of my territory. Don't worry-once we get to the Tower, I'm sure the Vanguard can help you, for now-just stay quiet and use hand signals, do you know how to do that?" Although the guardian wasn't sure of the location of their ghost, they gave a thumbs up with both their hands and waved them around their head so it could be seen by anyone who was watching. "Good, now let's find you a weapon before the fallen find us."
The guardian followed the stairs upward, the area becoming very dark away from the suns light. Zigzagging left and then right, the Guardian lost track of how many small flights they had actually climbed. The stairs end led out to a metal walkway with bars on either side to prevent anyone from falling down into the darkness below. Windows dirtied with time tinted the room with dingy light, making the path visible, if not sinister with the tinted red glow. Wires, pipes and metal bars made a large jungle above and below the guardian as they made their way across the walkway slowly.
"Quiet," The ghost told them as they reached the end, the light disappearing. "They're right above us. I'll give you a little light." The area seemed to light up, brighter than before, more like a flashlight; although the guardian glanced over their left shoulder and saw their ghost twitch, they gave a thumbs up to show they were silently grateful. They followed the path together, avoiding discarded papers, low hanging wires, empty tanks and boxes as they crept up more stairs. A hissing caught their attention as they reached the landing, seeing something move through a cut out in the wall. Long, lithe limbs moved a body along the pipelines upward, out of sight. The guardian froze as the ghost whispered in their ears. "Dregs. They've infested the place. Let's move a little quicker."
The hallway led out onto a balcony of sorts, pitch-black all around with no sign of an exit greeted the guardian who lifted their arms and let them fall. 'What now?'.
"Hang on," The light vanished slightly as the ghost appeared in front of them and flew away, watching them, "Fallen thrive in the dark, we won't. We need more light. Hang tight, I'll see what I can do." The ghost extended itself again, lighting up the area as it flew further away, following a path only it could see. The guardian looked ahead and caught the sight of what they believed to be little white lights in the distance.
Until they blinked.
As the ghost passed a rather large red pipe, a body scurried around to the backside of the pipe, away from the guardian's sight following Ghost as it flew into an opening the guardian could barely make out. "Another one of these hardened military systems...and a few centuries of entropy working against me..." As the ghost vanished, the guardian saw several bodies shown in the temporary light, clinging to the side of a similar pipe further away, flinching as they light disrupted them.
A clunk, a clang, and a large hum sounded as lights began turning on at the furthest point in the room, growing closer as the ghost came flying out of the hole in the wall where it had disappeared. Two larger mechanical beings flying quickly after it. "That made them angry! They're coming for us!" The ghost veered to the right, toward a rising metal gate that revealed a way further into the wall, "Blessed by the Traveler! There's a rifle! Grab it! Hurry!"
The guardian followed along, although their eyes were glued to a platform that was attached to the second large red pipeline. Several alien-looking bodies were running across the platform close to the ground, with extra limbs and weapons of their own as they retreated somewhere out of sight, further up the platform. "Guardian!" The ghost snapped, pulling them into action. They ran toward their ghost, sliding on their side under the gate before slamming it shut with their hands and getting to their feet. The mechanical beings that had been chasing Ghost stopped just short of the gate and began to shoot it with little guns attached to their bodies, a few stray shots landing near the guardian's feet as they backpedaled away.
Once they had retreated, the mechanical bodies flew backward and out of sight. "Those are called Shanks," Ghost told them as they vanished, "They can get pretty nasty. Here." It flew toward a large box with Russian lettering and hovered over a worse for wear rifle. When the guardian reached out for it, something crunched under their boot. They looked down as they reached for the rifle, backpedaling when they noticed the skull rolling away, displaced by their pile of bones being disturbed. A wave of fear, disgust, and shock rolled through the guardian as they clutched the gun to their chest and gave the bones and the skull a wide birth until they passed by.
The passage got wider now, but still seemed the same as the previous ones. A concrete jungle, forever stuck in construction, completely deserted. The emptiness of the place threatened to swallow the guardian whole, they could imagine it bustling with workers, which made the silence all the more terrifying. They crept along, adjusting their grip on the rifle until they were in the ready position.
"I hope you know how to use that thing." Ghost told them as they moved along the corridor. The ground was a combination of grates and concrete, the walls made of pipelines, ventilation paths and who knows what purpose most of it held now that it had been abandoned. Just as the guardian relaxed, a shadow on the far wall passed by. A strangely shaped head and shoulders, holding a gun, moved out of sight. Further down the hall.
The guardian brought the gun up to their face, staring down the sight as they moved slowly. When they reached the corner, they pressed into it, counting by holding up fingers.
3.
2.
1!
The guardian whipped around the corner, gun raised, and their finger ready on the trigger. But the hall was empty. They kept the gun raised out of caution, sure that the shadow had been of something living-not a trick of the light. Toward the end of this hall, panels had been ripped out of the ceiling to allow sunlight to filter through from above. Wires hung down in large bunches, looking like roots from a large tree. When they approached, movement caught their eyes.
A strange creature, lithe in stature with two abnormally long arms jumped over pipes that ran along the floor at hip height. It stood almost as tall as the guardian, perhaps taller if it was not crouched slightly as it landed. It wore a strange red helmet and a tuff of hair, or was it fur, stuck out from its head in a crest-like fashion. It gave a snarl toward them, but had time for little else, as the guardian squeezed the trigger on reaction and landed several automatic shots to the body. "On the right!" Ghost yelled frantically, a body dropping from the hole in the ceiling. This one was shaped similar in all but the head and had an extra set of arms for a total of four. Instead of a crest atop its head, this being was wearing a helmet that smoothed it out on top in a stark white color.
"KnifeKnifeKnifeKnife!" The ghost cried out as the new enemy lashed out against the Guardian with one of their upper free arms, a wide awkward punch. The guardian backed away, stumbling over the fallen body of its companion. A knife materialized in the Guardian's free hand as they tried to pull themselves up to a sitting position. The creature lunged for them, a gargling snarl from somewhere hidden behind their mask. The guardian struck with the curved knife, stabbing it in the neck as it landed on them, three-fingered hands clasping their arm, their leg and the side of their neck under their helmet.
A steady stream of light blue air escaped around the knife as the body went limp on top of them, the attacker's death grip going limp as they shoved it away in a panic. A small radar appeared in the corner of their helmet, a little triangle appeared in the center and never moved. "The triangle is you; I've been setting up your HUD as we've been walking-when you catch your breath take a look." A pause as the guardian snatched up their rifle and scanned the area cautiously, "Don't worry, we're clear-for now. That radar will have sections that lights up red when an enemy is near. Can't tell how many are on it, but if it's still red, there is an enemy in hiding somewhere."
Silence as the Guardian slowly lowered their weapon, believing their Ghost. "We've still got a long way to go," The ghost floated past them as they stooped to examine the bodies of their former enemies. "and we're losing daylight. If you think the Fallen are bad now just wait till we're out in the open and its night out...We should find those other guardians." It turned, seeing the Guardian examining the bodies closely, patting them down and studying their body structure. "That's a Dreg," the ghost hovered over the crested monstrosity, "Lowest form of the Fallen. They're like foot soldiers, but from what I've gathered they've been demoted and disgraced somehow. See those nubs?" The guardian touched the stumps under the Dreg's arms, one on each side. "Those used to be arms. They're chopped off when they get demoted."
The ghost flew over to the other body, "We call these Vandals, they're a little higher on the power ladder than Dregs, but still below Marauders, Captains and Kell's." The guardian drew a question mark in the air, tilting their head to the side, then twirled their finger in a take off motion. "We better hope there aren't any around," the ghost sounded paranoid, floating a little closer, "All the more reason to get you to the City. It's the last place Humanity has for refuge. It's a bit of a journey. Luckily," The shell twitched and compressed on itself, "You were in the Cosmodrome-which means there is bound to be guardians around. Or a ship we can steal," It glanced at her and twitched nervously, "Uh, I mean...borrow."
The guardian hooked their thumbs together and waved their fingers, signaling the flight of a bird. "That's right-it'd take us months to reach the Last City on foot, but if I can find us a ship, or a guardian with a ship, we can be there in a matter of hours." A clang in the distance caused the Ghost to disappear in a soft shine of light and the Guardian to remove their knife from the neck of the fallen Vandal. "But we won't get anywhere if we die. There is movement ahead," He told them as slight red bars appeared on the radar. "Be careful."