Epilogue

Mars. I have to admit that I wasn't in a hurry to see the place, not after the last time. I had a job to do, however.

The Clovis Bray facility was unchanged from the last time I had seen it. That didn't surprise me. The planet itself seemed pretty static for the most part anywhere the Vex weren't active, and the Red Legion would have had no reason to move on this part of Mars. It's possible the location could have been covered with more sand, but not enough time had passed for that.

I banked the Lost Days down in close, then transmatted to the surface. The ship then followed a pre-programmed course to wait in low orbit. I watched it fly away, then turned my eyes to the hole in the side of the building.

"Ready?" Elgan asked.

I sighed. "I don't know if I'd ever be ready."

I stepped inside and looked to the left. Chunks of rock and damaged pieces of the building were built up in a rectangular shape. The word cairn came to mind, but that wasn't exactly appropriate. I walked toward it, each step slow and measured. I'd built this tomb, covered the body of my fallen teammate.

I paused when I drew close. The outside of the building might not have changed, but something here had. One thing had been added to my work.

Baruch's Ghost, Ariel, lay on top of the stones, roughly in the same area Baruch's head was. I knelt down, and the Ghosts eye flickered open. Elgan emerged from phase, circling around us.

"Claney? Is that you?"

"It's me."

"I tried," she said in the saddest voice I had ever heard. "When… when the Light came back, I tried. I tried to revive him, but... I couldn't. I tried."

"I know you did."

"I poured everything I had into him, everything... the Traveler gave me, and begged it to bring him back. But he's… he's gone."

"It's okay," I tried to console the Ghost. "We'll take you to the Tower. Or you can come to the Farm with me and Elgan. It's nice there."

"No," Ariel replied, her voice fading. "No. I have nothing left. Just… promise me that you'll... keep us together."

"I promise."

"Thank… you…" The last word was a whisper, and Ariel's eye closed.

"She's gone," Elgan announced.

"Can you store her and Baruch until we can get them somewhere?"

"Yes. I'll just need line of sight."

I nodded, then watched as the dead Ghost disappeared. I stepped up to the tomb then, gripping one of the large rocks on top and pushing it aside, exposing a portion of Baruch's body. Elgan moved into position and shone a beam of Light onto the corpse, which then disappeared as well.

I then had him recall the Lost Days, and transmatted off the planet. I set a course for the Last City, and set off.

"The City?" Elgan asked.

"Baruch never saw the Farm," I shrugged. "The only thing he knew was the City and the Tower. Makes sense for him to be buried there with Scott-20 and other Guardians who fell."

Scott-20. Left behind when we had gone to Mars, and killed in the Red Legion attack on the Tower. I'd heard he died a hero, defended civilians and escorted them to the evac zones. It didn't make the loss any easier.

Once at the Tower, I headed straight for the new cemetery, which was filling up rather quickly. Darkness take the Red Legion for what they did. Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about finding a place for him. Knowing that I would need to retrieve him, I had reserved a plot.

The surviving members of Painted Truth, Celeste, Kana-4, and Tanton were waiting for me, as was the coffin. Elgan transmatted Baruch and Ariel into it, and I closed the lid. The four of us carried him out and laid him to rest. Normally there would have been more of a ceremony, but with so many dead from the War, if everyone got the individual attention they deserved, there would have been no end to the funerals. Instead, there had been one large ceremony for everyone, and individuals just had small moments like this.

"Light go with you, Baruch. You were gone too soon," I said as the four of us looked down at the coffin. "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," Celeste said.

"I know that, in here," I said, gesturing to my head. "But that doesn't mean that I won't keep feeling like it was. I trained him. I was team lead, and it was his first real mission. I'll always feel like I should have done something different."

Celeste reached over and squeezed my hand. I gave her a small smile. The grave diggers approached, and we turned away as dirt began to pile up on the coffin. I bid farewell to the other members of the team as well, shaking Tanton and Kana's hands and giving Celeste a hug. I watched them walk away, then transmatted back to the Lost Days to head home.

It still felt a little weird to refer to some place other than the Tower as home, but it was getting easier by the day. During the Red War, we had spent months living and working there, helping to build it into something that could handle the flood of refugees from the Last City after the Cabal attacked. Now, the focus was on making it something sustainable.

Most of the refugee barracks had been torn down, the materials used to build new individual homes, complete with running water. They were nothing fancy, but it was a beginning. The few barracks that were left standing were being converted to storage centers.

Devrim Kay had once made a comment about hoping the Farm could become a new city, and that was what we were trying to do. If Six Fronts and Twilight Gap hadn't convinced people that having all of humanity in one place was a bad idea, the Cabal successfully taking the City had. What was the old saying, don't put all your eggs in one basket?

One of the new homes was mine. It was fairly simple and not very large, about the same size as the small apartment I'd had in the Tower, with a similar floor plan. Right then, the only thing I cared about was the shower and the bed. I cleaned up, then flopped into bed and was out almost instantly.

The next morning I woke, ate breakfast at the mess hall, then got to work. There were a number of tasks I was helping with on a regular basis. Construction. Security. Helping set up supply runs between the City and the Farm. Today was construction. It was work I enjoyed, the feeling of accomplishment that came with having something at the end of the day to point to and say that I helped make it.

I had other things on my mind though, and gave little thought to what we were doing, merely going through the motions. Once we finished, I left and headed home. I showered and changed, getting ready for the evening. My hands shook a little as I took a shirt out of the closet.

"Are you alright?" Elgan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just nervous."

"Nervous? I've seen you throw yourself at an army of Hive without a single worry."

"Yeah, well, this is a little different than that," I said.

Once I was ready, it was a second trip to the Tower in as many days. I transmatted to the new courtyard, which was busy at this time of day. Guardians were rushing to and fro, visiting the vendors or item storage before disappearing again, several civilian contractors were moving about and working, and I could hear Lord Shaxx yelling at someone.

"You're not dead yet. Fight back!" he bellowed. Must be a one sided match going on.

I turned and made my way toward the new Guardian housing. Some living quarters had been far enough away from the top of the old Tower that they had survived and were still usable, but many had been damaged or were in the part of the Tower still considered unsafe. New homes were constantly being constructed, and filled almost as soon as they were ready. I checked again with Elgan to make sure I had the right room number.

"That's the fourth time you've asked," he added after he replied.

"I just want to make sure."

"You really are nervous," he said.

"Pretty sure I told you that."

When I finally reached the correct corridor, I hesitated at the head of the hallway and took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Elgan was right earlier though, I had put myself into situations that were a lot more dangerous and not felt this same twisted up feeling inside. Or this urge to suddenly turn and run the other way.

I strode down the hall and stopped at the right door. I raised my hand to knock, pausing again before following through. Swallowing hard, I rapped my knuckles three times lightly against the door, then took a step back, shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

The door opened, and there stood Zillah. I had a brief flash of memory, of a disheveled Zillah in casual clothing opening a door on the Reef. This was nothing like that.

She was in a purple dress, her hair perfectly in place and she was actually wearing a little makeup around her eyes. She smiled, and I was completely speechless. When I didn't say anything, her smile faltered a little.

"Claney? Everything alright?"

"Yes, everything's fine," I replied. "You just… you look amazing."

She looked down at the compliment, a different smile playing across her lips, and I thought I noticed a slight purplish tinge on her cheeks.

"Thank you."

"Shall we?" I asked, and held out my arm.

"Yes, lets."

She reached out and hooked her arm through mine. We made our way down the hallway and through the Tower, arm in arm until we reached the elevator to the lower levels. We then rode the elevator down to ground level.

Much of the City was still rebuilding, and would be for a while, recovering from the damage inflicted by the Red Legion's attack and occupation. Several businesses were up and running, including a number of restaurants. We walked to one of these that was fairly close to the Tower.

"How's the Farm?" she asked.

"Good," I said. "Busy. There's so much to do to try to get it where we want it to be. It would be easier if the City wasn't in the state of emergency it is right now. The foundries are producing a lot of material, but the majority of it is coming here, as it should."

"Oh," she replied, and I got the feeling that I answered the question incorrectly somehow. We arrived at the restaurant, and were seated. She picked up a menu and looked over it, and I too a moment to just look at her, watching her amber eyes flick back and forth as she read over the offerings. She stopped reading and glanced at me, catching me looking at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"Well, stop staring at me then," she said.

I picked up my menu then and started to look through it. After a page, I had the sensation of being watched and glanced up to find her watching me. She quickly looked away, and I let out a little chuckle.

"Caught you."

"Shush," she said with a smile.

The waitress stopped by the table then, and we ordered. Once she had walked away, we sat silently for several seconds before Zillah spoke up again.

"I told you that I knew you," she said, "back when we were fighting the Cabal. I feel like I do, but I actually don't know much about you at all."

"Honestly, I feel the same way," I replied. "We've been in several life-or-death situations now, helped each other through difficult situations, but I don't know your story at all."

"Well, let's change that," she said. "You first."

…

AN

FF

Shy911 - The Farm choice seems to be surprising people and well received, both of which makes me happy. That had been the plan for a while, and I was worried I might have given it away earlier. I had also been sitting on that "Tales We'll Tell" Gambit for months because it would have spoiled both the Farm and Celeste taking over.

And now we have officially reached the end. Thanks to everyone who has followed along with the story, whether you've been with me since Patrol, the beginning of this one, or joined somewhere in the middle. I have big plans for a follow up story, and will probably update here once it is ready to post the first chapter.