Tales from the Wild *Destiny*

You will find no substance in this thread at this point in time. This is not me announcing my return from 'retirement' either. Instead, this thread will serve as a hub of sorts.

Y'see, even though Into the Stars is completed, the work of Guardians throughout the stars is not. This thread, over time, will fill with stories of other Guardians, or perhaps even people surviving outside of the sanctuary that is the Tower.

Tidbits of stories to help paint the picture that is the Destiny story, or what remains of it. The ultimate goal here is to take a multitude of different one-shots, and bring them all together to give everyone the feel of just how desperate things are in this universe.

If all goes well, the first post will be tomorrow, and you might just see some familiar faces >: D .

"Oh ho! Welcome young Guardians!" Master Rahool smiled as the young Titan and Warlock joined the crowd. "Fashionably late as always, I guess it's just within your fami-"

Stopping himself, the Awoken master of all things encrypted shook his head with a frown.

"My most humblest of apologies." bowing his head in respect, Master Rahool turned to the grill in front of him. "Please, enjoy some freshly prepped foods, courtesy of the Vanguard."

The Titan looked to the Warlock beside him, before nodding, helping himself to a single cheeseburger. The Warlock's mouth watered, as she gingerly accepted a grilled chicken sandwich.

"For those unawares, this lunch is held in celebration for the efforts of the Traveler's Guardians, whom, without them, would have meant the end to Humanity and all it's allies." the man's eyes flickered towards the newly arrived Titan and his guest. "Whose daily sacrifices allow us to persevere. This lunch is held, as our recognition of heroes fallen."

Around the Cryptarch, the many Guardians and civilians that inhabited the Tower lowered their head in respect. The robed man's eyes gingerly scanned around him, as young children buried their faces behind their parents.

"I know many Guardians are still out there, fighting to keep this City safe. I also know that many of you Guardians present are eager to head back out into the field. But just the other day, a good friend of mine; a Titan whom used to be Vanguard himself, handed me a Legendary Engram."

"My fellow Cryptarchs and myself spent the past couple of days attempting to crack the codes. You see, instead of just being a mere weapon's schematic, the engram my friend had given to me contained a memory fragment from an early Golden Age's artificial intelligence."

"Why does this apply to us?!" a hunter scoffed, whilst angrily chomping down on a hotdog.

"A good question, young Hunter." Rahool nodded. "The fact of the matter, it doesn't apply to YOU, it applies to our newest arrivals. The reason I bring it up, however, is because those Engrams you Guardians keep sending to me day after day, may actually hold the key to our salvation. This luncheon is my way of thanking you Guardians, to allow you Titans to unclench your mighty fists, you Warlocks to walk out of the Void, and you Hunters to take off your cloaks."

Realizing there was no gain from standing around, many of the Guardians walked away to continue their business on the Tower. The Titan and his Warlock friend approached the Awoken man in robes, who shook his head in disappointment.

"My attempts of generosity have failed." Rahool scoffed, before chuckling. "I guess my attempts to boost morale have always fell short. I've never been known to hold a weapon, perhaps that's why Guardian's detest me so."

"Really? I always thought it was 'cause you were the Tower's gossip." the Titan shook his head with a shrug.

"-and before Cayde-6 had a chat with you, you liked to scam Guardians of their hard earned Engrams." the Warlock smirked.

Rahool shook his head with a frown, before glancing back at the Titan.

"You're curious about the Engram that Drake gave me, yes?"

"I want to know what was inside of it, besides the schematic."

"You realize, before the Collapse, that Guardians were very few and far between? They were gifted warriors, brought upon by the Traveler to give hope to Humanity, their Awoken brethren, and even the Exo troops fighting to maintain Humanity's Golden Age."

"Yeah?" the Titan replied brashly.

"Well, young Lance, the memory contained within the Engram belongs to a soldier on the front lines, a man who fought during the Battle of the Six Fronts, at the Twilight Gap."

"If you have any further interest, follow me into my office." Rahool nodded.

Lance looked down at the floor, before turning his attention to Chelsea beside him. The Warlock nodded, before smiling.

"What are we going to lose, a couple of hours of time?"

"Time we should be spending out there." Lance shook his head. "He died so that we could fight another day."

"He died so we could live." Chelsea shook his head. "I don't know about you, but I live for knowledge, not combat."

After speaking her peace, the Warlock followed Master Rahool into his small shack/office area. Sighing, Lance decided to follow, stepping inside of the makeshift Cryptarch Head-Quarters.

"Ah excellent. Shall we proceed?" Rahool's eyes flickered. "I've got quite a few of them stored up here, perhaps they may hold clues to rare treasures out in the Wild."

"Keep in mind, these logs could have been recorded ANY time. Two hundred years ago, five years ago, heck, I decrypted an Engram yesterday that was recorded an hour prior to it forming."

"Fine," Lance crossed his arms. "Tell us the stories of the Wild."

///////////////////////////////////////

Humanity's Golden Age
Majestic City of Freehold
Clovis Bray Research Center.

"My name is Sten Montague, I'm son of the Head of Research at Clovis Bray, Hans Montague II." the young teenager said into the camera. "I'm recording this message while in my father's office, I'm bored and there really isn't much to say. Can you talk, little camera?"

"I'm not just a camera." a soothing voice hissed. "I am a creation of the Traveler."

"That's neat." the teen replied, completely disregarding the tone the floating, white shelled robot had given him. "I'm recording this in hopes of being accepted into the military."

"Military?!" the robot scoffed. "You're just a young man, there is no possible way you could join the military! What, do you think I'm just directly connected to the Vanguard?!"

"I mean, a man can dream, can't he?" the teen shrugged, walking away, the robot hovering over his shoulder. "My father is convinced that I'm going to grow up a scientist, he's completely adamant against me taking up arms."

"Against what? There is no threat out there!" the robot shook it's form.

As soon as the robot had said that, however, his father bolted in through the door. Slamming the door behind him, his father lifted an odd, white assault rifle with a red stripe running across it across his chest. Sten recognized the Suros Regime from anywhere, his extensive research in the new weapons the Traveler's influence was helping Humanity design helped him in doing so.

"Hey pops, what's with the rifle?"

"C-cab-al." his father's face was pale, his dark brown eyes wide and full of fear.

"Cobble? As in stone?"

"Cabal. Coming, Mars. Empire, destruction, Moons, turtles!" his father spouted, as Sten shook his head.

"I'm confused, stones are coming to Mars?"

"Get... we... get out." the man's hands released the auto rifle in his hand, as it clattered to the floor. "Must... save... research. Traveler, friend, foe?"

"What are you-?!" Sten began to ask, as the robot beside him clicked his shell together.

"The Cabal, an enemy of the Traveler is on it's way. It feared this day would come. If what your father's is rambling is true, we need to get out of here, back to Earth. The Traveler can protect us!"

THUUUUUUUM!

The Facility around them shuddered, the massive skyscraper they resided in groaning as explosions rattled the side of it. Sten shook his head, running up to his father. Grabbing his old man by the scruff of his shirt, the young man stared him dead in the eye.

"We're getting out, stay behind me."

Lifting the weapon, Sten practically dragged his father through the door. If they could at least descend a couple of floors, there was a hanger about halfway down the skyscraper, where they could escape. Again, the building around them shuddered and groaned, sending the two men to their feet. Hurrying back up, Sten growled in annoyance, before slapping his father across the face.

"Whatever you discovered, we can discuss it later! Right now, we need to get out of he-"

There was an alien grunt in the hallway before them, as a massive beast stomped around the corner, a massive rifle in it's hand. Fire ignited from the front of the weapon, towards them. Sten's eyes opened wide, as he dove to his left.

Unused to combat rolling like this, Sten yelled in fear as his body shattered the massive window to his right. The Martian wind howled into the building, his left hand lashing outto the ledge. Holding fast, Sten winced as some of the shards of glass pierced his hand.

"GAAAAAAAAH!" Sten roared in pain, but held his grip.'

"Son!" Hans yelled, grabbing his son's hand. "Drop the rifle, let me pull you up!"

"If I do that, the turtle will just kill us anyways!" Sten shook his head. "Here!"

Attempting to hold it up, his father refused to accept the weapon.

"You were just holding it, TAKE IT!"

"I-I can't!" Hans shook his head. "I... I killed them."

Grunting, Hans tried in a futile effort to lift Sten. The alien grunted again, before firing another salvo of rounds at Hans. Sten's eyes opened wide as his father coughed for a second, a giant, burning hole pierced in his chest.

"DAAAAAAAD!" Sten roared, as Hans cascaded to the streets below.

Glaring up, the Cabal soldier that had killed his father pumped it's left fist into the air, before growling and pointing the weapon at him again. Wincing as the glass continued to shred his left hand, he raised his right arm, and the auto rifle within it.

Gritting his teeth, blood swirled down his left arm as every shot from the weapon shook his body, driving the glass further in. The small robot floating beside the teen shook it's form.

"If you insist... Traveler."

Glancing his attention to the little robot, it's shell expanded outwards, revealing the orb of blue light within. Within a deep flash of white light, Sten growled, as the alien above him stumbled backwards.

When the light faded, Sten focused on the Cabal soldier above him. If he could just get up there, he was certain he could kill it with this rifle. Either way, he'd rather die to it's gun than the fall. The world around him bended for a moment, and before he knew it, he was standing behind the beast.

Glancing around for a moment, Sten was highly confused as to what had happened. That thought stopped instantly, however, as the beast in front of him turned around to face him. Raising the weapon he held the rifle with both hands, pumping an entire clip into it's chest. Stumbling backwards from the constant fire, the beast roared all the way down.

Sten approached the open window, the wind howling past him, as he clenched his left fist, which, much to his surprise, was no longer in pain. Glancing down, the dried blood that had poured down his arm remained, by any gashes or wounds from the glass had all but sealed.

"W-what did you do?" Sten turned to the robot beside him.

"The Traveler saw some potential within you, Sten Montague. From this day forth, you will be a Guardian, and I will be your escort. Call me Ghost." Ghost clicked his shell. "You're a rare breed of soldier, chosen by the Traveler to instill hope in your people. C'mon, Warlock, we need to get back to the City. The Traveler has need of you, EARTH, has need of you."

Sten began to walk away from the window before hesitating for a second, turning back only to take one last glimpse at the broken glass. He wasn't sure what his father had uncovered, but whatever it was had brought them here, and one day, when the Cabal were forced to retreat, he would return and find out just what that was.