The Tower
The Last City

Inaho had held no expectations of the Last City, which turned out to be a positive. If he had, the small city impossibly tucked away in a remote valley would have defied each of them.

Upon approach, the impossibly-large, white spherical object looming over the valley dominated the landscape. It would have commanded the attention of anyone, but the thoughts running through his head were how such an existence was even possible within the realm of physics. It seemed he couldn't go very far at all without finding one impossibility after another. He couldn't let it go, either; one of the first things he had committed himself to doing was to find the nearest library or archive and spend however long it took to catch up on this new reality. It might take him a good long while but understanding the world and his new reality was one of the most important objectives he had.

What he did notice as the jumpship continued on its automatic trajectory were the walls surrounding the mish-mash of buildings nestled below white-capped mountain peaks, with towers situated at specific junctures. It was a tried-and-true method of defence, but what was peculiar was that the aircraft pulled up to one of these towers before he found himself transported to a courtyard at its summit. He surmised that this could only be "the Tower" his Ghost had mentioned...but why was it not in a more central part of the city?

As more ships came in, Inaho's gaze was drawn to and lingered on a young woman who had been ported in from one such ship, dressed in heavy armour with a semicircular knee-length cape descending from her belt, depicting a stylised golden labrys on a white and magenta field. A young-looking man in lighter armour, a red elaborate longcoat, and a glowing band on his upper left arm depicting a double-headed eagle in shifting colours emerged from a corridor on the right side of the courtyard, greeting her with a smile. Something seemed elusively familiar about the pair – strangely, the woman seemed much more familiar than the man – yet there was seemingly nothing which stood out about, neither the woman with her feathery, short dark hair and sharp violet eyes nor the man with his mop of golden-blond hair parted at the side which partially hung into soft blue eyes.

Though not deliberately, Inaho managed to overhear their conversation as they idled at the railing overlooking the city below. Admittedly, little of it made any sense to him.

"So, how was Europa?" asked the man whom, based on his style of dress, Inaho guessed to be a fellow Warlock.

The dark-haired woman wrinkled her nose in what appeared to be distaste.

"Ugh. I'll let you know after I've had a long shower."

Her companion shivered for some reason, perhaps to express sympathy.

"How can you even think about water after that?"

"Easy. I'll need at least a half-hour at scalding to properly de-thaw," she answered, holding up her hands and flexing her digits in an exaggerated manner. "I still can't feel my fingers."

Her companion smiled – again in what was likely sympathy – before he changed the subject.

"Up to a round in the Crucible later?"

The violet-eyed Guardian groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Not if we're matched up with those goddamned Orbital Knights again. Those asshats always play Rumble even in the objectives! They'll completely lose a match because they're too busy competing with each other to rack up the most kills. They'd shoot each other if they could!"

She tossed up her hands in frustration, a scowl marring her youthful face. "As if kills even matter in Rift!"

"What's with them, anyway?" the blond openly wondered. "Are they even a clan if they don't at least co-operate?"

Though their conversation continued to make only a modicum of sense to him with its sea of unfamiliar terms and names, the name of the 'clan' she mentioned pinged something within his subconscious. Inaho mulled over it as he continued to halfway listen in on their chat.

In the meanwhile, the woman in heavy armour – the word Titan somehow sprang to mind – shook her head.

"I have no clue. Apparently, some of them have some vague-ish memories of their past lives and are 'reclaiming their former glory' or some other bullshit like that. That they're the only ones who believe each other is probably why they're even a clan at all. Well, and maybe the mutual glory-hounding."

Their chatter gradually faded out of Inaho's hearing range as they migrated past the courtyard and up two short flights of stairs to an inner courtyard, disappearing from view into a passageway to the left.

After a moment of staring, his Ghost materialised beside him. Perhaps it had been giving him some time to adjust, but it wasn't an important enough question for him to bother asking.

"The Hall of Guardians is just down those stairs," it noted to him, apparently indicating a wide descending passageway approximately fifty feet in front of him. "The Vanguard representatives are usually down there. We should probably report in before you start exploring the place."

The advice had merit, the brunet Guardian had to admit.

"All right."

Yet, just as he was about to leave, another ship pulled into view behind him. The whine of the engines sounded different somehow, high-pitched and powerful. Out of curiosity, he turned to observe the approaching aircraft, his attention focused on it as it hovered just beyond the railing of the courtyard.

It was different in just about every way from his own, and even the jumpship of the heavily-armoured woman from earlier. Sleek and black, with long wings which bent backwards midway as it pitched and rolled along the wind currents, it dominated his view until a figure materialised below and in front of it.

Inaho remained where he was, curious about the pilot of such an odd-looking craft. As it turned out, said pilot was just as unusual. Blue-green eyes were wide as they took in their surroundings, and an expression of what was likely to have been awe etched on a youthful face. The high winds around them stirred unruly, short platinum-blond hair and a longcoat similar to the one Inaho wore. Similarly, there was a simple band with a geometric pattern of glowing blue on his upper left arm not entirely unlike Inaho's, which might have served some specific purpose that he had yet to discern.

But for all that his eyes took in, only one word seemed to come to mind.

The Last City nearly crippled Slaine with sensory overload. While what his Ghost had identified as the mysterious 'Traveller' – the otherworldly being supposedly responsible for his new life – commanded attention over the landscape, the city below it was just as fascinating. With so many different styles of architecture crammed into a relatively small area, it was proof that mankind, with all its varying cultures, had been forced to all but retreat into the walled-off valley. In some ways, it was a depressing thought that people had been reduced to this...but at the same time, they had been forced to set aside their myriad differences to live in co-operation. It was a bright spot of hope, at any rate.

The Tower itself mystified him in turn. At a slight angle with a summit shaped almost like the aft of a large aircraft, it hardly seemed like a military post to him...at least at first glance. Reviving in the middle of a war zone had led the blond to believe there was some urgency to the unknown conflict he had found himself drawn into, but the atmosphere of the Tower was strangely unhurried, even relaxed. As evidence of that casual atmosphere, his eye was drawn to a worn rectangular sticker slapped haphazardly on the side of a smooth grey column adorned with white circular geometric designs on an azure field. Cream letters on a faded purple background cheekily declared, "We don't believe in miracles here...we rely on them."

Even as he tried to regain his bearings – shielding his eyes from the intense sunlight above – a soft voice drew him out of his musings.

"Bat."

Slaine turned to regard the person to his left who had spoken. Perhaps a few centimetres shorter than him, the other Guardian – he could only assume the similarly-dressed boy was one, as well – regarded him with an oddly-impassive expression. As the altitude winds blew through the courtyard, causing a small dust devil in their wake, they ruffled messy waves of dark brown hair which only seemed to compliment an almost child-like curiosity.

The tow-head blinked in confusion.

"Excuse me?"

"It looks like a bat," the other replied as if that explained everything, rust-coloured eyes flicking up to the ship behind them.

The problem for Slaine was that to him, it looked nothing like a bat.

"How?"

"The wings are shaped like a bat's."

"I'm...still not seeing it," the Stormcaller answered slowly, frowning and casting a jaundiced eye on his strange ship as it was guided away, probably to a hangar somewhere in another part of the Tower. His Ghost remained dematerialised and was decidedly not panicking, so it was likely not something to worry over. Still, would the technicians there even know how to maintain a ship so ancient?

The strange Guardian next to him effortlessly derailed his train of thought.

"Is something wrong with your eyes?"

For all the rudeness such a question implied, the blank stare of the other seemed to indicate honest curiosity. There was certainly something off about this other Guardian.

"No, I mean…" he started before a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Wait...did you think I was talking about not being able to see my ship?"

A puzzled blink answered him first.

"Yes. Were you not able to see your ship?"

Slaine could feel himself blinking with similar bemusement, hesitating and rubbing the back of his neck before answering as he considered his answer. Not out of fear of offending the other Guardian but instead phrasing his words in a way the other might be able to understand.

At least, he hoped so. The brunet didn't appear to lack intelligence, but his reaction was definitely not a normal one.

"Yes, I could see it...but what I can't see – that is, what I can't understand – is how it resembles a bat. It looks more like a gull...though even that's still a big stretch."

"Do you like birds?"

The question seemed to come out of nowhere, but Slaine was quickly learning this other Guardian had his own pace and trains of thought. Nevertheless, it still threw him off a bit.

"Erm...well...yes? But what I mean is that it doesn't look like a bat to me."

"Should I call you 'Gull', then?"

Was this his way of trying to be friendly? Slaine had no frame of reference to make an educated guess, but there couldn't be any harm in assuming that's what the brunet was trying to do. After all, if he was a fellow "Kinderguardian" likewise out of his depth, then he might be trying in his own awkward way to find someone to socialise with...even if the tow-head wasn't completely sure the brunet would care about such things if he wasn't entirely on his own.

"Ah...giving someone a nickname when you don't know them very well is..."

He was finding it tricky to explain things that most people took for granted, but in a strange way, it was a rather pleasant mental challenge that forced him to approach things in a different way.

"Well, it makes most people uncomfortable. You're better off just using my name."

Pausing to offer his hand, Slaine continued.

"I'm Slaine Troyard. It's nice to meet you."

At first, the russet-eyes Guardian seemed to stare at the offered hand blankly, as if he uncertain of what he was supposed to do. Slowly – almost experimentally – he raised his own and cautiously took the one Slaine offered, though his impassive expression persisted. He didn't seem to be acting in a deliberately rude manner, however, so Slaine brushed it off. He doubted the other boy meant any offence.

"Kaizuka Inaho. It's...also nice to meet you."

Slaine offered his best reassuring smile, though it didn't appear to have a noticeable effect on the other boy, who continued to regard him with a lack of any discernible expression. Perhaps it did, but he had no way of knowing at the moment.

"I guess you're new here, too?"

Kaizuka – or should it be Inaho? – nodded but remained silent.

The blond took that to mean he might have been feeling overwhelmed as much as Slaine himself was. Certainly, the brunet appeared to be unflappable, but that might not be what he was actually feeling. Slaine could only hope he was being properly empathetic.

"It seems I have to go down and talk to someone in this 'Vanguard', which I guess so do you? That is, if your Ghost mentioned it?"

He was answered with another nod.

"Then, maybe we could go together?" Slaine suggested with another smile he hoped was reassuring.

"That would be a logical thing to do," the other agreed.

An odd way of phrasing it, the blond supposed as he started towards the stairwell, but it was encouraging nevertheless. And he did have to admit that company, even peculiar company, made things a little less lonely. Hopefully, the other boy was of a similar frame of mind and wasn't going to become too bored with his presence. Slaine had a feeling that they were going to be seeing a lot of each other in the near future.

Yet before he had even taken a few steps, the roar of a jumpship thundered overhead, and Slaine couldn't help but look up toward the source. His new companion likewise followed with his gaze to observe the strange aircraft, and Slaine wondered what it might have looked like to him with its two prong-like appendages in lieu of standard wings and a third at the bottom of its elongated hull, glowing blue as if there was water beneath it casting reflections up on it. Despite its alien appearance, blond recognised it immediately.

It was the jumpship of the Hunter who had rescued him.

After the City had come into view, his saviour had made some offhand remark about needing to stop off somewhere first and changed course while his own jumpship continued on to the Tower. Slaine had to admit he'd been a little disappointed, having hoped for the opportunity to thank her properly for saving him in a situation he wasn't certain he would have survived otherwise. The brunet next to him might have been puzzled by his contradictory behaviour, but Slaine held back long enough to wait for the pilot to transmat down.

"And what does that ship look like?" he asked his companion.

"A squid."

"Just don't call that pilot 'Squid', all right?" the tow-head managed to reply after struggling to stifle a laugh, thankfully just before the pilot was ported down to the courtyard.

With the sun at her back, he had a hard time making out her features even as it lit her shoulder-length rose-coloured hair with a golden glow. The wind continued to whip around them, and she impatiently attempted to bring her hair under control with her left hand, fruitless as the attempt was. Without her helmet and hood, the Hunter seemed even more petite, her features possessing a deceptive delicacy to them. She would have even appeared almost fragile...if he hadn't seen her destroy an entire platoon of Fallen almost single-handedly.

Slaine figured this was his best chance to properly express his gratitude for saving his life.

"Excuse me, miss. I'm the new Guardian you saved a little while ago," he ventured with a shy smile, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just wanted to thank you again for rescuing me."

He hadn't known what to expect – a grunt of acknowledgement and a dismissive wave towards her actions, perhaps – but what actually happened fell entirely outside of anything he could have predicted.

The first thing he noticed now that he could see her up close was the colour of her eyes; a clear blue matching the cloudless skies behind them. The second was that those eyes were widened in shock. And had she paled at the sight of him? It was a strange reaction to say the least.

Before he could ask, however, the Hunter abruptly pulled her hood up over her head, obscuring her face.

"Пожалуйста," she muttered before quickly turning on her heel and beating a hasty exit towards the stairway leading down to Vanguard Hall.

The tow-head was left staring in her wake with an openly confused expression, which his Ghost apparently misinterpreted.

"She said 'You're Welcome'...well, in context, that's what she meant," the AI chimed in helpfully.

To be fair, he hadn't understood what she had said; the Ghost's quip was genuinely helpful. Still, the source of his confusion hadn't been only a matter of linguistic differences. The Hunter had been gruff before, but just then she seemed strangely stand-offish.

A low whistle to his left jolted him out of his musings, and both he and Inaho turned their heads towards the sound. Leaning casually against one of the grey columns with folded arms was what could only have been a type of android or cyborg, with a body simulating a male form and dressed in similar light armour to what his saviour had donned with a similar tattered black hooded cloak. Glowing green disks gazed at the two new Guardians where eyes would have been on a human being, and for all the world it seemed as if the metal plates painted with dark green stripes making up his face were arranged in a human expression of a smirk.

"Wow, the great Klavdiya Kalugina didn't just call you something rude and stomp off. Either she's in a fantastic mood today or you left her with a rare favourable impression. What'dya do, single-handedly defeat a Hive Prince on the Moon?"

Though he really wanted to ask what in the world a 'Hive Prince' was – a sidelong glance to his companion suggested Inaho was about to – Slaine decided he should clarify about what actually happened.

"No, I just...she saved me from a captain of one of the...they're called Fallen, I think?" Slaine was thrown off enough to start flailing slightly. His eyes flicked to Inaho momentarily, and the inexpressive young man seemed curious. At least, Slaine thought he might have been.

"It turned black all of a sudden and I wouldn't have survived if she hadn't come to help."

The older Guardian appeared to frown, or his faceplates appeared to suggest the expression.

"That's been happening a lot lately. Some of these bad guys will just be sittin' there, just mindin' their own and peacefully plottin' how to kill us, when BOOM!" The android gestured with his hands to simulate an explosion before he continued. "Some weird black holes just appear out of nowhere and suddenly those same bad guys are all black and twitchy and creepy and a helluva lot stronger. I never had to deal with this crap when I was a newbie, so y'all be extra-careful, okay?"

Slaine offered him what he hoped was a grateful smile. The experience was a little too fresh in his mind for the memory not to unnerve him.

"Thanks, we'll keep that in mind."

The veteran Guardian seemed to come to a realisation.

"Oh yeah, probably should have introduced myself. I'm Markus-4. My Ghost found me about...fifty years ago? Gettin' hard to remember nowadays. And since you might not know, considerin' the funny looks I get sometimes, I'm what you'd call an Exo. I guess you could call us cyborgs, seein's how a lot of us used to be human and even the ones that weren't have some organic parts. That's part of how we're different from those Frames over yonder," he added, waving to the modular robot leisurely sweeping the outskirts of the quad.

The blond's eyes flicked to Inaho again, and he could tell already that he was interested enough that he was likely about to ask an intrusive question without realising what social norms he was breaking. Fortunately, Slaine was fast enough to step in before that happened.

"I'm Slaine Troyard. Thank you for the insight, it was very helpful."

He hoped Inaho would understand enough to follow his lead, and sure enough the rather odd Guardian was observant enough to pick up on his cue.

"Kaizuka Inaho." He paused as if unsure of what to say next before adding, "Thank you."

Luckily, the Exo didn't appear to be offended.

"Sure thing. Gimme a holler if you need some help with a bounty. Most of us oldbies are more than happy to show y'all the ropes, seein's how we need all the Guardians the Traveller can rez."

Slaine had to admit that he was nearly as baffled as Inaho was by the older Guardian's speech, but it was probably best to save those questions for the Vanguard.

"We appreciate the offer," he replied, deciding it was probably a good idea to speak for the other Kinderguardian in this situation. "We have to go report to Vanguard, so we'll probably talk to you later."

"Sure thing. See you 'round," Markus replied affably before turning and offering a backwards wave as he departed.

Meanwhile, Slaine decided he'd best assuage his impromptu companion as they made their way to the hall, lest they be side-tracked again.

"I'm sorry for taking charge like that, but..."

It was difficult to tell whether Inaho was offended or not from his expression alone – or lack thereof. At least if his response was anything to go by, he thankfully wasn't.

"You were correct; any questions would have delayed us further."

Ah well, Slaine thought as they resumed their objective. He's partially right...I'll just have to explain everything later.

As tragic as the circumstances were which had led to its construction, Asseylum found the City to be incredible. From the railing surrounding the Tower courtyard, she could observe the bustling streets below, vibrant with life. Each avenue was lined with various shops and makeshift stalls on either side, bedecked with colourful awnings, embroidered and printed wall hangings, and pendant lamps casting patterns of multicoloured light. Strings of triangular flags draped across alleyways where bright tiles of mosaics decorated the portals separating each area. Various wares seem to spill over into adjacent stalls and corners where the occasional old-fashioned neon sign declared varied dining establishments. Commerce, it seemed, was firmly etched into humanity's subconscious as people fulfilled each other's needs through trade.

And finally, while the Traveller might have loomed overhead, she could still easily behold the endless blue skies framing it. For some unknown reason, she had a difficult time tearing her eyes away from it and the occasional flocks of birds traversing it. The skies held her gaze much longer than even the welcoming streets of the City, and a strange nostalgia accompanied the sight.

"Quite the spectacle, isn't it?" a familiar voice quipped at her back.

The Warlock turned towards the Titan who had led her there, only to be taken aback at the tall woman's appearance. Glowing irises of neon blue gazed back at her from behind bangs of deep blue hair, most of which was pulled back into a high ponytail with only a few strands escaping to frame a finely-sculpted face with a powder blue complexion. Lips of subtle violet seemed to be drawn into an amused smile.

Asseylum blinked at the woman's alien appearance before smiling with a bit of embarrassment.

"Oh...yes. I wasn't expecting the City to be so...alive, I suppose is an appropriate word for it."

Ali grinned in response.

"As I said before, humankind is nothing if not creatures of habit." Her rescuer paused for a moment, her smile widening to a grin as she shifted her weight and planted her right hand on her hip. "And I take it you've never seen an Awoken before?"

Asseylum felt her cheeks colouring.

"I'm sorry, I hadn't meant to stare. But...no, I haven't."

The Titan shrugged, apparently not offended.

"You probably died before our race evolved out on the Reef – that's way out in the asteroid belt, by the way – but we're humans, like you. Just...blue. Or sometimes grey. And with glowing eyes. We may have adapted this way for living in the asteroid belt, though no one really knows."

It was admittedly a lot for the new Guardian to take in, so she tried to offer her best friendly smile.

"I...think I might understand, now. Thank you, Miss Ali."

The blue-haired Awoken gave a dismissive wave of her hand, albeit not in a rude manner.

"Don't mention it...and no need to be so formal. Oh, but I never did catch your name."

She could feel the colour rise to her cheeks once more in chagrin. Not that there had been much of an opportunity to exchange pleasantries until now, but she could have at least given her name earlier.

"I'm sorry, how rude of me. My name is Asseylum Vers Allusia, although I'm afraid that's all I can remember."

Ali answered her with a shrug.

"That's all most of us can remember when our Ghosts first revive us. Sometimes we recover our memories, but there are Guardians out there who have been around for years who still don't remember anything but their names. So don't sweat it."

The Titan grinned once again.

"At any rate, it's a pleasure to meet you, and welcome to the City. We should hit the Bazaar sometime...there's a curry place that's to die for. Lucky for us, our Ghosts can just revive us."

The flaxen-haired Warlock answered the admittedly silly quip with a couple of blinks before she giggled softly.

"Aha...it's nice to meet you, too. I'd love to join you there sometime." This 'curry place' did sound interesting.

The Awoken woman grinned again before waving a hand to a passageway at the far end of the courtyard. "I can take you there after you go talk to your rep. Your Ghost probably already told you about Ikora, I take it?"

Beside Asseylum, her Ghost re-materialised and huffed, sounding offended.

"Of course I did," it protested mildly.

Ali held up her hands in a placating gesture, and the blonde had to stifle a giggle with her hand at the exchange.

"Relax, I wasn't doubting you," the blue-haired woman reassured. "But you barely had time to go into much detail from what I saw, what with an entire platoon of Fallen freaking out on you. In any case, Ikora will probably be able to answer just about any question you throw at her, so you shouldn't keep her waiting."

The elder Guardian paused as she considered something.

"Oh, and when you're done, just go up the stairs on either side, take a left through the alleyway, then all the way past the fancy portal to the balcony and take a right. There's a library where I'll be."

Ali grinned again, and Asseylum was beginning to wonder if that was her default expression. Her humour seemed to be punctuated with the occasional bouts of seriousness, rather than the other way around as the blonde would have expected in their situation.

"And trust me, no matter how long your meeting goes, I'll still be there. It's practically my second home."

The golden-haired Sunsinger offered her a parting smile.

"Thank you. I'm very grateful for all your help."

As she started towards the hall, Ali's parting words followed her across the courtyard.

"By the way...the curry place is open until 21:00!"

= \|/ =

Situated at the end of the courtyard, a wide stairwell leading downwards split into two sections, divided by a wall bearing a gold escutcheon. Asseylum paused to study it briefly in an attempt to isolate the different devices of the coat-of-arms. It proved impossible; each of the four divisions merely bore unfamiliar geometric designs. What each field was designed to represent, the green-eyed Guardian was unable to figure out. Hopefully that was a question that wasn't outside Ikora's knowledge.

She turned her head to regard two other Warlocks who had just entered the stairwell; both seemed just barely out of boyhood. Were they new Guardians just as she was?

"Hello," Asseylum greeted the two with what she hoped was a friendly smile. "I'm sorry if I'm assuming, but...are you two also...?"

The blonde hesitated just before using the term Ali had used. She hadn't minded – not having completely understood the implications – but could that be said for others? For all she knew, they might be offended by it.

The blond one – slightly taller than the brunet – smiled with equal friendliness yet with a hint of bashfulness.

"'Kinderguardians', I think the word is?" he offered helpfully. "Actually...yes. Speaking for myself, this is the first time I've even been here."

Strangely, the russet-eyed Guardian beside him simply regarded her without any sort of expression at all. Maybe he's just very shy? she considered.

"We're going to be delayed again if we continue further," he responded in a bland, rather brusque monotone. Then again, it seemed important that they speak with their representative soon. It stood to reason they were there for the same thing.

"You're right, I'm very sorry."

Nevertheless, the blond young man sighed. "I'll explain more later, but Inaho...most people consider that to be rude."

While the facial expression of the one named Inaho didn't exactly change, the slight cant of his head suggested confusion.

"Why? It's the truth, and you agreed earlier. We have already postponed our meeting by approximately four minutes and twenty-three seconds."

Asselyum could only stare at the strange brunet, not altogether different from the stare his companion was likewise giving him.

"How did you..." he appeared to collect himself quickly enough, shaking his head as if to clear it. "Never mind. Like I said, I'll explain later."

He flashed another almost-apologetic smile at her.

"I'm Slaine Troyard. It's nice to meet you."

The brunet hesitated at first before replying in the same somewhat brusque manner that he had before.

"Kaizuka Inaho."

In turn, the Sunsinger offered them her best friendly smile.

"I'm Asseylum Vers Allusia," she replied. "It's nice to meet you, too. Well, shall we go?"

Inaho hadn't exactly been impatient to meet with the Vanguard Warlock representative, but he disliked procrastinating on what was necessary. He particularly disliked it when there was the promise of something else that he wanted to do, and leaving current chores undone first would not be a prudent decision. First, he would attend the briefing, then he would have Slaine explain all those confusing parts of social interaction that he didn't understand so that he could avoid problems in the future, and once all that was done he could finally locate a source of information about this curious new reality. And he had to admit that Slaine was interesting company; if he wanted to come along and research as well, Inaho would hardly mind.

In the present, however, he was having considerable difficulty reconciling the matter of their division's representative. He supposed that perhaps Ikora Rey could be labelled a 'philosopher-warrior', a concept that – strangely – he had few problems understanding for some yet-unknown reason. But something within his subconscious seemed to want to reject the idea of a real-life wizard, of someone who possessed abilities far beyond what human beings were naturally capable of, owing to forces which could not be explained or understood via scientific knowledge. Others might simply relegate their abilities as Warlocks to the realm of magic, but his logical mind outright rejected such superstitious nomenclature.

There was a logical explanation somewhere...it was merely a question of finding it.

But more importantly, there were more immediate concerns. Before he could go hunting for whatever repositories or database access points existed within the City, he should really find some suitable quarters, and then secure reliable food sources before hunting down sturdier clothing...

"Is that acceptable?" a soft alto voice interrupted his train of thought.

Just as he was wondering what he had missed when he was mentally running through the list of necessities, he had apparently been asked a question. Slaine, on the other hand, had been paying attention.

"I don't have a problem with it if Inaho doesn't, ma'am."

The brunet blinked.

"Have a problem with what?"

The dark-complexioned Warlock's eyebrows raised slightly as she regarded him, while the blond beside him sighed softly.

"You really should pay better attention when our superiors are debriefing us," he scolded mildly, closing his eyes and shaking his head before regarding him again. "She asked if, since we're still settling in, we would be fine with rooming together in the Tower barracks."

Inaho mulled over the idea for a moment, quickly deciding that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.

"I agree, it would be practical to do so."

He wasn't entirely certain why he had to pay attention to their representative addressing the issue of where Asseylum would reside, coming to an agreement to board with someone the blonde had apparently met prior to their own meeting. After all, it would be much more efficient to return to his list of necessities...at least until Ikora began to address the war itself.

"Without going into too much detail, we have found ourselves fighting a war on multiple fronts. Whether or not the Darkness is manipulating our enemies directly, indirectly, or it is merely opportunism with our compromised defences, there are four factions which are openly hostile to humanity and to Guardians in particular. Unless otherwise engaged with each other, they will fire on sight. Remain vigilant at all times in the field."

Once more, his companion possessed what could only be military bearing when interacting with the Vanguard representative.

"Yes, ma'am."

Though he was unable to read Ikora's expression in reaction to such treatment, if the words following it were anything to go by, such a reaction was an abnormal one to her.

"While I find your manners to be rather refreshing..." she paused while slowly turning to cast an equally-unreadable glance at the Exo behind her. There was a stifled noise which might have been a laugh from the cyborg, though Inaho suspected he wasn't trying very hard.

"...You need not be quite so formal," Ikora continued. "The Vanguard isn't a military organisation. Even Zavala would agree, regardless of how he manages his Titans."

The exasperated sigh from the opposite end of the table was fortunately much easier to read. There, the heavily-armoured man with a shaven head appeared human enough, with only indicators of a distinct racial offshoot being glowing blue eyes and pale, greyish-violet skin.

At first, it appeared as if he was about to say something before simply shaking his head and returning to what work he was already doing. Inaho was not of an especially sympathetic mindset, but something told him he could relate.

On the other hand, Ikora merely smiled – or perhaps smirked, Inaho wasn't entirely sure – before continuing.

"Needless to say, we don't stand on ceremony. All that's expected of you is to take the fight to our enemies, protect humanity, and search for ways to help the Traveller."

Again, her expression changed, but this time he might have caught a hint of enthusiasm to it...though he couldn't be sure.

"And as Warlocks, there's some incentive to finding artefacts from the Golden Age. Even things which seem as if they are nothing more than scrap can be useful. Even now, the more exploration-inclined Guardians are bringing back artefacts which may have been pieces of an unusual form of weapon. Like Frames, but on a much larger scale."

At that, Inaho was finally paying full attention. A quick sideways glance at his companion told him that he too was very interested in what this might mean...not to mention a hint of shared recognition. The sideways glance back at him hinted that Slaine had probably noticed the shared interest in the subject.

"We'll keep an eye out for them," the blond replied with one final sideways glance at Inaho.

He saw no logical reason to refuse.

"Agreed."

Diya had been in for the shock of two lifetimes when she touched down at the Tower after a brief stop at a village some ways beyond the City walls for special ammo. While she had long ago realised it was not outside the realm of possibility to find someone from her past life, the Bladedancer had given up after centuries without encountering anyone she had known. Not that she had been actively looking; the thought of most of the people in her past left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Which was why her bile had reached critical levels to see the person responsible for at least a good portion of the pain in her life all over again. Not that it was entirely his fault, but still.

Why now? Diya silently demanded of the Traveller, as if it could read her thoughts. Why him?

A familiar white-haired, grey-skinned presence smirked at her with folded arms as he leaned with a languid, feline grace against a wall at the base of the stairs, golden irises glowing in the faint light.

"Enjoy babysitting duty?" he taunted.

"Not now, Jaed," she growled in warning, not even so much as sparing a glance at the Awoken on her way past. The Striker Titan was a constant thorn in her side, a hyper-competitive idiot who apparently considered the Hunter his rival for some unfathomable reason. He never seemed to be able to beat her in the Crucible – the training competition which pitted Guardians against other Guardians – but that alone shouldn't have made him so obsessed with gaining a one-up on her.

Something in her thunderous expression must have warned him that she was not in the mood to deal with him today, because the almost ever-present smirk dropped from his face. He almost seemed sympathetic, of all things.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Diya sighed, stopping in her tracks. Jaed was a right jerk many times, but she'd had enough proper manners beaten into her in her previous life to at least give a halfway polite response.

"No," she admitted. "It's not something I really want to think about now...or ever, actually. Just some bad memories I'd rather forget about."

"It's beyond fucked up how that is," he responded, still managing to keep things civil. "Those of us who can't remember shit wish we could, and those of you who can wish they didn't."

His smirk now was one of bitter irony.

"It'd be nice if the Traveller could swap us, huh?"

Commiserating with someone who was normally trading insults with her was definitely one of Diya's stranger experiences. Pity that tomorrow Jaed would probably be back to being his usual asshole self. She wasn't sure whether she should draw this out for the novelty or end the conversation before things started to go metaphorically south and ruin the moment.

In the end, the Bladedancer opted for the latter.

"Yeah...well, thanks anyway. I'd better go check on my ship and give my report to Cayde before he starts bitching about not being told anything. Say hi to Al and Markus for me."

She almost regretted ending it early, because if the Striker had what he thought was a witty retort, he exercised enough sense not to share it.

"Sure. See ya 'round," Jaed replied before heading back out toward the courtyard.

Diya usually preferred to get her reports out of the way first so she could get out of Vanguard Hall that much faster, but this time she went to the hangar first and lingered long enough to shoot the breeze with the shipwright. Amanda Holliday was as sharp as a Hunter's knife and Diya held no illusions that the Bladedancer was deliberately procrastinating on something by loitering, even if the blonde withheld comment on it.

Yet, she couldn't bring herself to leave just yet, not when Slaine Troyard might still be where she needed to go. She would just have to deal with Cayde's heckling as the necessary price.

Author's notes: Seriously missed my self-imposed deadline, I know. Looking back, it wouldn't have been realistic even if I hadn't been devoured by stuff like Warmind. But RL cannot stop this fic, dammit.

I'm sorry about the lack of shooting/Hunterstabbing/Titanpunching/Warlockslapping in this chapter, (and so far, it looks the the next one) but there will be plenty to go around from Chapter 7 onward. But well, everyone did need to meet and get situated before going off to make the Fallen/Vex/Cabal/Hive/Taken regret coming to the Sol system. And sorry about jumping around with the perspectives here, but everything would have been crammed into a single POV if I hadn't broken them up they way I did.

To the non-players confused by the opening dialogue, don't worry if you didn't understand a word of it. That part of the scene is actually dual-purpose. For non-players, it's a little piece to help empathise with Inaho's confusion at essentially being thrown into the deep end of a pool while only just starting how to learn to swim. He's just as clueless as you guys are.

At the same time, it's a little red meat for the player crowd who might be amused at the idea of Orbital Knights being those Crucible players. Y'all know who I'm writing about: those blueberries who are so focused in their individual KDRs that they never pick up the damn spark in Rift (back in D1, anyway. RIP Rift) and your team ends up losing because oops, it's not Clash or Rumble. I regularly make jokes in team chat about these guys being like Orbital Knights. "Muh Kills!" "Yeah, you still lost, dumbass."

Lastly, for the players: yes, the Frame there is in fact Rusty the Sweeper Bot from Byf's April Fool's video.

Titular song: Bad Company – Seagull

Insert music: Michael Salvatori, C Paul Johnson, Martin O Donnell – Guardian
Sawano Hiroyuki – Ver$
Michael Salvatori, C Paul Johnson, Martin O Donnell – The Tower