As the Guardians approached the Valus, Ahsoka, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the Clones stared at them in awe. Their clear leader, the one in plate armor, took the point position in the group. The other two, the one in robes, and the other wearing rogue's garb, took the left and right flanks.

"Let us begin." the Valus boomed, opening fire with his Heavy Slug Thrower.

"As you wish." the lead Guardian replied, as he rushed forward and jumped into the air, throwing his hand to the side. As he did so, there was a flash of brilliant orange energy akin to an ever-burning fire, and the jaws of every Jedi and Clone present fell to the ground.

The Guardian now carried an ornately carved hammer, burning with flame that seemed to be covering him in its embrace. It coursed through his hands and into the hammer, and the Guardian rushed the Valus, proclaiming three words.

"Hammer of Sol!" the Guardian roared, throwing the burning hammer into the Valus's helmet with a roar of fury. The hammer flew true and impacted in a great explosion of flame, and before the eyes of the Jedi and Clones, a new Hammer reformed in his hand, ready to be unleashed once more.

"Light 'em up!" the Titan roared as the other two sprung to action. The one in the cloak leaped into the air like the leader, only instead of flame, there was a blast of purple energy. A bow of purple light formed in his hands, and the Guardian took aim.

"Shadowshot!" he cried, as the arrow flew through the salvo of Cabal slugs and impacted the Valus's chest, and formed a ball of swirling energy. The Valus immediately recoiled as a purple aura covered him, tethering him to the ground and preventing him from returning fire. As the remaining Guardian charged forward, the lead one continued to summon and throw his "Hammer of Sol" with deadly accuracy, the final Guardian summoned a blast of electrical energy around herself.

This time, the vision of everyone there turned blue as the fury of pure, unfettered lightning formed around her, coalescing into her hands. As the final Guardian channeled the storm into the Valus's chest, she sent blasts of Arc Energy throughout the makeshift arena. As the storm faded out, the Valus fell to one knee, then the other. As he collapsed to the ground, the three Guardians approached.

"You fight with honor and power, Guardians...but He will soon come, and He will end you all." the Valus groaned with his dying breaths.

"And we'll be ready." the lead Guardian said, ending the life of Valus Cu'uran with a single, blazing fist directly to the head. As the Valus lay dead, the Guardians approached the remaining Val.

"Who's next?" their leader asked.

"No one is next, Guardian." the Val replied. "We will honor our late commander with our final rites. We ask for peace in honor of your battle."

"Agreed." the robed one said. "But the Jedi and the Clones will come with us, and you won't pursue us when we leave. Does that sound fair?"

"Fair." the Val replied, bowing with one hand to his chest. "Leave and revel in your victory, Guardians. You have earned it."

The Guardians nodded and the Cabal in the area dispersed into the dark, leaving the stunned Jedi and Clones alone with them. As the three of them approached Obi-Wan, the awestruck Jedi came forward.

"In all my years, I've never seen anything like that before." he said. "Was that the "Power of the Light" that the Valus told us about?"

"Yes." the Plated Guardian replied. "We'll tell you more, but later. We should get moving to wherever you came from. There, we'll establish negotiations and take you to the Last City. But be warned, if you try anything, we will treat you as a threat."

"You won't have to worry about a thing." Obi-Wan replied. "Alright everyone, let's move!"

"Yes, sir!" Rex and Cody said as the Clones loaded up into the AT-TEs. As the Guardians summoned their Sparrows, further mystifying their guests, they led the way out of the old metro and to the Martian surface, where the stars were becoming visible in the night sky.

As the Clones, Jedi, and Guardians trekked the worn path back to the Resolute, inside the lead AT-TE, Obi-Wan and the Jedi sat down across from the Guardians.

"So, I don't believe we caught your names." Ahsoka asked.

"You're correct." the robed one said. "I am Rainea Thoren, Warlock and Guardian of the Last City. My companions are Hunter James Mendoza, and Titan Anubis-3, our Fireteam Leader."

She and the other Guardians removed their helmets. Rainea and James were humanoid, with James bearing a visage like a Clone. He had pepper-black hair and a stubble beard, with piercing green eyes. Rainea, unlike James, had blue skin and wispy white hair, and a small scar on her left cheek. But what interested the Jedi, and by extension the Clones more was Anubis. He was some kind of machine. His metallic face, styled with the visage of a golden predatory feline on the forehead, was black with golden eyes and a yellow jaw. His eyes were a dark brown, and he chuckled at the Clones' stunned faces.

"Are you some kind of droid?" Rex asked.

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"I take it droid is your general term for a robot or machine?" Anubis asked, and Rex nodded. "In that case, no, I'm not. I'm what's known as an Exo. I'm an artificial consciousness implanted into a mechanical chassis. What separates me from what you might call a droid is that I'm basically sapient."

"Incredible." Obi-Wan said. "How many of your kind exist?"

"I'm not sure." Anubis said. "I've never actually thought about how many Exo are out there. Nearly all of us are Guardians, I know a few who aren't, but we're decently populated. Anyway, where do we start?"

"Can you tell us how you got those powers?" Anakin asked.

"Simple. We died." Anubis replied. "And before you start speaking, let us explain. Dusty?"

To further their guests' surprise, a small object appeared next to Anubis's head. It was a small, spiked, circular object painted white, with the same sigil as Anubis's waist-sash. It also featured a small blue eye.

"Sure thing, Anubis." the object said. "My name is Dusty, or rather that's my nickname. I am a Ghost, born of the Traveler's Light. To be more specific, I'm Anubis's Ghost. I serve as his companion and guide, among other responsibilities. One of them is resurrecting him should he fall in battle."

"How exactly can you just...come back from the dead?" Ahsoka asked.

"That's one of the many mysteries of the Light." a second Ghost appeared next to James, bearing the snake sigil. "My name is Evs, and I can tell you a lot about it. When the Ghosts first came to be, we were tasked by the Traveler to find those worthy of the Light from amongst the dead, no matter how long it takes. There are still Ghosts searching for their Guardian even now."

"That leads me to our next point." said Rainea's Ghost, as she appeared. "I'm Storm, and the three of us have been together since we were first resurrected in the ruins of Washington DC, the former Capital of the United States of America."

"How did you know it was them?" Rex asked.

"When we find our Guardian, we just...know." Evs replied. "It's like a flash, and sudden recognition. When we find our Guardian, we use the Light given to us by the Traveler to bring them back from the dead, and turn them into Guardians."

"That's not all." Anubis said. "Since we're connected to the Light and for the most part immortal, we don't age in terms of biology. Guardians can live for over hundreds of years, but there are...drawbacks. All Guardians lose their memories of their past lives when they are resurrected, and we become infertile. Plus, our immortality is tied to the Ghosts. So, say a Guardian's Ghost was destroyed. If the Guardian is then slain, they die for good."

"Can't another Ghost just resurrect this Guardian again?" Obi-Wan asked.

"No." Rainea said. "If a Guardian's Ghost is destroyed and they die their final death, they cannot be resurrected again. Their connection to the Light is permanently severed. It requires special technology, though."

"Anyway…" Anubis said. "The Guardians have been fighting for centuries to reclaim the Sol System. Mars is only one of the planets Humanity used to inhabit before and during the Golden Age, and were lost after the Collapse."

"What happened?" Ahsoka asked.

"That particular bit of history is tough to explain, even for us." James said. "We'll tell you more when we get to the City, and you could maybe get clearance from the Vanguard to access our archives if possible. So, where did you all come from, for a change?"

This discussion took longer than the previous one. Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Anakin, Rex, and Cody together told the Guardians of the Clone Wars, the Jedi, the Separatists, and eventually of the Force. The Guardians were skeptical at first, but when Obi-Wan lifted Anubis's Auto Rifle into the air with ease, their doubts were shown the door.

What didn't take so long was explaining how the Resolute managed to reach the Sol System. Once the Jedi told the Guardians of the massive droid, the three of them cursed rather loudly.

"You know what it was?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Maybe." Anubis said. "There's only one species that we know of that can accomplish something like that. The Vex."

"They're a race of cyborgs." Rainea said. "Advanced enough to exert control over Time and Space to a certain degree. And that's not a lie."

"Time and Space?" Ahsoka gasped. "How?"

"We don't know." Rainea said. "The Vex have multiple timelines existing in countless realities, and seeing as they can transform entire planets into machines in days, which they have done in this system...It's still a mystery."

"They've done that particular feat to the planet Mercury, and partially on Mars and Venus." Anubis said. "The Vex are basically all-knowing, time-bending, murderous robots in simple terms. We may have killed two of their most prominent Gods, the Heart of the Black Garden and Atheon, but they still keep coming."

"These machines can do that?" Rex gasped.

"Yep." James said. "And they are a real pain while doing it. Is there anything else you want to know?"

As the conversation continued, the tanks lumbered through the sands back towards the waiting Resolute.