An Exo's Trials

A long time ago...

In quick succession I blasted the array of Dregs below me, as I soared over them. Battles were most often won with skill alone and I had more than enough. I sidestepped an incoming Vandal’s, wire rifle energy bolt. Immediately retaliating, I threw a pulse grenade towards it. I turned and took in nearby opportunities whilst enjoying the sweet sound of the explosion mixed with harsh Fallen swear words. I was a Titan, a Striker. One Fallen captain was causing a large amount of trouble. Once again utilizing my powers of lift, I leapt towards him. I smashed my metal fist into his side. Speaking of metal, I’m not Human. I’m what’s called an Exo, a robot. The captain staggered backwards and shouted out in fury. It gave me a death stare with all four of its glowing, blue eyes and coolly drew its swords. Fallen have four arms. They are a very primeval species and how they managed to invent their tech is a mystery. In the captain's side lies the dent from my punch. It wasn’t as deep as I had first thought but I was still satisfied that I had in the least damaged the hard ether armour. The captain charged at me with its dual swords held outward on either side of its body. It was a fearsome display of bravery but that particular captain had obviously not faced a guardian before. At least not a powerful one. I reacted instantly. I raised my hand cannon and fired a decisive, perfect shot to the captain’s heart. I would tell you where the heart is located but that would be giving away that I have studied them. I paused for a moment to reload and thought to the power of the weapon I held. Not many guardians realised that they were killing people when they killed the Fallen. Despite their tendency decimating other species, they were relatively civilized. They were divided up into many houses none of which I’m going to name now. My weapon reloaded I cast my eyes for another target. Abruptly, fifty Fallen skiffs appeared above the battlefield. My friend Scott and I’s eyes both caught at the same time. Despite him being Human and me being Exo we both got along just fine. I knew that I needed his help this time. I sprinted over to him. Apart from a few straggling Dregs we had almost cleared the battlefield but now that the skiffs were dropping in reinforcements I knew it would be a lot harder. We were running short on ammunition and the few Warlocks we had were recharging their abilities.

“Scott, you know it’s going to take a miracle to get through the next wave, right?” I said.

“Well the Traveler was a miracle so I don’t see why we can’t fight for its life!” Scott stated. I looked at him endearingly. He was an optimist to the end.

“Alright then! Let’s put our crucible training to the test and show those invaders who’s boss!” I replied. We stood side-by-side and watched in dismay as the Fallen dropped from their ships; the lower ranks first and then progressively higher ranked troops. The last two skiffs emptied Servitors onto the field. I shuddered, once before I had been hit by one of their deadly energy blasts. Believe me; it had taken weeks for my ghost to resurrect me. I was far more careful afterwards. If that isn’t bad enough the Servitors are also partially worshiped by the Fallen and can transmute matter into the ether which keeps the Fallen alive. If you ever want to take out a group of Fallen you should definitely take out the Servitor first. Once the Servitors were ready the Fallen reinforcements screamed their battle cries and charged forwards towards the city. I noticed the numbers were far greater than before and decided that my machine gun was far better to use against such numbers

“You know Ghost; I really didn’t think it would end like this. You haven’t spoken nearly as much as you usually do. I assume by that it means that the Darkness here is very strong. Do you think you’d be able to resurrect me after this fight if I were to die?” I asked Ghost. I, as all guardians, had met my ghost as the first person when he first brought me back from the dead and so he was my constant companion for life.

“I don’t think I could. It is traumatic enough being in this area. We should probably evacuate and save lives. We could take the Traveller with us and be safe!” Ghost said.

“You’re forgetting something,” I said as I started spraying bullets into the masses of Fallen, “This is Earth, our home. And you just proved another reason why ghosts don’t have weapons!” I threw a flash bang grenade into a clump of Dregs and let Scott finish them off and guard me while I took out the Vandals who were picking off our guardians with snipers. I changed back to my machine-gun and gave another round of fury. We weren’t doing so well. We had lost many young guardians already and their ghosts were floating around, confused by the chaos which was spreading. Dregs were closing in around Scott and I. They weren’t dying. Then I remembered the Servitors.

“Scott! We can’t win this. The Servitors! They’re healing their Fallen.” Fortunately Scott caught onto my plan. I was glad that there was plenty of room outside of the city for such a battle. It would have been crazy if it had been in the city itself. I dived forward towards the Dregs. They cried out in thirst for my blood but as I jumped I arranged myself as though I was riding a bike and summoned my sparrow. The speeder instantly teleported from my Jumpship and appeared underneath me. I sped over the Dregs which had previously surrounded me and went towards where the Servitors had been dropped off. The sneaky machines always hid away and did their dirty work from a distance. I was nearly there. I looked around and saw that Scott was right behind me. I slowed down a little so that he could keep up with my new speeder. Within seconds we arrived at our destination. The purple bolts were already flying through the air. I jumped off my sparrow and drew my hand cannon. The eye in the centre of the spherical robot was the weak spot. Bang! One down, many to go. Once more I fought with Scott by my side. We were unstoppable! With the Servitors falling we could see back to the other side of the battlefield where our companions were fighting and we could see that the Fallen troops were weakening. We were winning! I gained confidence and advanced more boldly. I had finished my primary ammunition and was using my fusion rifle. I was just charging up my gun to destroy another enemy when I felt a searing pain in my back and heard my ghost calling out in distress. I turned and saw a huge Fallen Kell, the king of a Fallen house. You could tell from his badges of his rank but that was the least of my worries. In the beast’s hand were the blades preferred by Vandals. They were dripping with my blood. I had dropped my weapon when the blade had first struck and now I was defenseless. Someone had pulled my helmet off. My vision was red with blood and I could not see Scott anywhere. My eyesight grew even worse as more lifeblood seeped from my body and I turned to the Kell. He was saying something in English; something about death and defeat. I could not make out much but I knew he was saying that it was my fault he had lost. The Fallen raised his blades once more and I, paralysed by his gaze lay dead still. The last thing I felt was cold steel sinking into my neck and the four glowing eyes staring.