"Guardian? Guardian! Eyes up, Guardian!"

Jake was slowly awoken by a voice, and saw a strange, symmetrical object with a glowing blue eye looking down at him. He groaned. His entire body, everything was in pain. As he started to get up, he heard the voice again, and realized it was coming from the object.
"It worked! You're alive!"
Jake was incredibly puzzled. He couldn't remember anything- well, almost anything. He remembered human things- how to eat, how to talk, what society was- but his memory seemed to omit anything pertaining to his past.
"You don't know how long I've been looking for you." The object spoke once more, and the symmetrical edges around its eye spun around, as if it were excited.
"Who...who are you? Wh-what are you?" Jake asked in pure confusion.
The object was quick to answer him. "I'm a Ghost- actually, now I'm your Ghost. And you..." the voice paused, as if it were considering withholding what it was about to tell him. After a second, it continued. "...You've been dead a long time. So you're going to see a lot of things you won't understand."

"What does that even-" Jake was cut off by a distant howl that chilled him to the bone. Both him and the Ghost turned in the direction of the noise. It sounded completely unnatural, like whatever it came from was alien to this world. The Ghost turned to him.
"This is Fallen territory. We aren't safe here." The Ghost looked back and forth, before floating off ahead of him. "I have to get you to the City." it said.
"The what?" Jake asked, still confused to high heaven. The Ghost completely ignored him, looking around, before floating towards him.
"Hold still." it said, before disappearing with a blue mist.
"What the- where did you-?"
"Don't worry," The Ghost's voice now came from what seemed like inside Jake's head. "I'm still with you. We need to move, fast."
"Well, where do we go?" Jake asked. "I don't know jack about where I am or what this place is- I don't even know how I'm alive!"
"This place is an old Cosmodrome- a Russian spaceport." The Ghost explained. "It's quarantined now- and still quite dangerous. But our only way forward is through that wall."
Jake looked up ahead, and saw what the Ghost was talking about; there was a massive structure that spanned in either direction for as far as he could see, and there were indeed paths that seemed to lead inside. He sighed, saying "Guess this is the way in..." before putting his helmet on and heading off towards the wall.

The sounds of whatever the 'Fallen' that the Ghost was talking about continued to echo off the lonely metal walls as Jake made his way through the dark and rusted corridors of the Cosmodrome. The Ghost then began to speak again. "I need to get you back to the City. To do that, we'll need a ship." Jake nodded, even though he didn't quite understand what the Ghost was talking about. The Ghost continued, "But, first... I need to find you a weapon. Let's keep moving."

"A weapon?" Jake asked in confusion. "What on Earth would I need a wea-" he was cut off by another distant cry of the 'Fallen' creatures. Right. Jake thought. Big scary creatures in the dark. A gun would probably be useful against the monsters under the bed. As they kept moving, the daylight that seeped through the cracks in the metal corridors began to dim, and Jake was starting to have a hard time seeing. The Ghost suddenly reappeared next to him, and began to emit a flashlight beam from his eye. "Careful..." The little thing warned in a hushed voice. "They're all around us." Jake looked at the walls around him and caught a glimpse of what he thought were limbs moving, followed by a scampering noise as whatever it was scuttled away. Jake shuddered. Calm down... it's probably just rats or something.

As if to disprove his thought, another scampering noise could be heard overhead as something crawled through the ceiling, accidentally dislodging a grated metal ceiling panel, which clattered to the floor with a sound that seemed to be ten times louder than it should, echoing across the entire corridor.
Big rats... Jake doubted himself.
As they continued to walk, the hallway abruptly ended, opening into a massive, empty room, which was black as night. Jake stepped out onto a relatively large platform that overlooked the huge chamber, and the Ghost floated off over the edge in front of him. "It's a risk, but... I'll get us more light." it said, before flying off towards the opposite wall of the giant room. Jake watched as the Ghost's light hovered around the wall in the distance, talking to itself. "Hardened military system... check. Frayed wires and rust... check." Jake could hear the sound of crackling electricity as the Ghost fiddled with a small terminal on the wall. "When I flip this switch, expect trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Jake asked, but before he could get an answer there was a loud clanging sound, followed by the humming of a massive generator as dim lights on the ceiling of the chamber began to light up. As the humming continued, Jake started to hear the sound of at least a hundred of the unseen creatures groaning and screaming in annoyance, and he watched as pairs of glowing blue eyes began to light up all along the walls.
"Not good! Not good!" The Ghost came rushing back to him, panicking. "They're definitely not happy to see us!"
The Ghost looked around, and shone his light in a corner near an exit of the balcony they were on. "There! A rifle!" Jake looked in the direction and saw an automatic rifle propped up against a crate, looking very old and probably in bad condition. Oh well. A gun's a gun, I guess. Jake rushed towards the exit, snatching the rifle as he passed by. He checked the magazine as he ran, and started to feel as if he had done something like this before, like he had been in combat before and his rustiness was starting to wear off. Just like learning to ride a bike again. He thought.
"I brought you back for a reason, Guardian." The Ghost told him as they ran through more rusted hallways. "You're a hunter, and that means you're not afraid to take risks. So, keep moving, and get ready for a fight."
Jake nodded, gripping the gun tighter and hooking his finger on the trigger. "I think I'm ready now." as he rounded a corner, he was greeted by a strange, arachnid creature that jumped out from inside a wall. Jake yelped in surprise as it lunged at him. The thing had only two arms, despite clearly having an insect-like biology, and a tuft of purple hair on top of its head. It had pale purple skin and a mouth sporting sharp teeth and mandibles, along with six glowing blue eyes. The creature tackled Jake to the ground, clawing and snapping at him with its three fingered hands as the rifle was thrown out of his grasp. Jake struggled to hold it back, kicking it in the groin but to no effect. As the creature's two-pronged jaw got closer to his face, Jake leaned his head back, then slammed it forwards, headbutting the bug square in the face. It stumbled off him, dazed, and Jake seized the opportunity to kick it off him, sending it tumbling to the ground. Picking up the rifle that had been knocked aside, and relentlessly unloaded several rounds into the creature's body, which shrieked in agony as it was killed, a spray of black blood spewing out of the wounds.
Jake stood there, panting. "Guessing these guys are the Fallen?" he asked, turning to the Ghost, which made a movement that looked like it was nodding in response. Jake continued to run, turning corners as he traversed the hallways, not entirely sure where he was supposed to go. Suddenly, another Fallen creature dropped from the ceiling, landing on its feet and screeching at him. This time, Jake was ready, and he raised the rifle, firing off several rounds into the Fallen, dropping it almost instantly. He kept moving, and the Ghost spoke again.

"Stay focused. If your tracker blinks, there's trouble nearby." Jake then saw a small heads-up display indicator appear on his helmet's vision, which was glowing red and pointing ahead of him. Jake followed the direction of the indicator, coming across a large room with several piles of boxes here and there, with a group of Fallen congregating in the center. He noticed that not all of them had only two arms; there were some who bore four arms, and were wearing heavier armor along with large, nasty-looking firearms. The Fallen all whipped around to look at him as he walked in, and they raised their weapons to fire at him. Jake was able to get off several shots at them before he was forced to duck behind a crate. The Fallen's weapons seemed to be firing some form of concentrated energy, and one bolt had caught him in the shoulder when he went for cover. The wound stung, and he looked at his shoulder to see a black, charred spot where the bolt had impacted with his body. Jake waited until the Fallen ceased firing upon the crate he was currently hiding behind, and he heard one of them barking orders to the others in an alien language. He peeked out from behind the crate to see the group of Fallen had split in half, and were approaching the crate from either side. He took the chance, and rolled out from behind the crate and landed in a kneeling position, opening fire on the three Fallen who had been approaching from his left. The other three heard the gunfire and came running, their shock rifles blazing. Jake aimed the rifle to fire, but when he pulled the trigger all he heard was a clicking sound. "SHIT!" He shouted in frustration, and was forced to duck behind another crate. Jake removed the empty mag from the rifle, cursing under his breath. "How the hell am I supposed to get more ammo?" As if to answer his question, the same blue mist effect that the Ghost had been using to appear and disappear began to form in his empty hand, and an extra clip appeared. Jake raised an eyebrow. "That's... something."

Jake rushed out from behind his cover, shooting the last three Fallen that were left in the room, their bodies collapsing to the ground riddled with bullet holes. "I think that was all of them." Jake muttered, but was immediately proven wrong by a high-pitched roar from behind him, and he turned to see a single Fallen who was much, much larger than the others charging at him. "Oh fu-" was all he was able to get out before the creature had him in a choke hold, and slammed his back against a wall. Jake struggled in the Fallen's grasp, clawing at the three-fingered pincers wrapped around his neck. He began to gag as he was losing air, and in a final last-ditch effort, he unsheathed a small knife that had been strapped to his belt, and stabbed the Fallen in its arm. All it did was glance at the knife, and then cock its head at him, as if to say "Really?" Before suddenly squeezing with all its might, and Jake could hear the cracking of his own neck bones as the Fallen choked him out, killing him, leaving his body to fall limply to the floor.

The Fallen examined the Guardian's corpse, then looked at the knife still puncturing its arm, growling as it pulled it out as thick, black blood trickled out of the wound. The Fallen cast the knife to the floor, and began to walk off.
As Jake's body lay there, the Ghost appeared, and projected a dim, blue beam of light over the fallen hunter's body, moving it across the entire length of the corpse. Jake's eyes suddenly shot open, and he struggled to his feet, grabbing the knife off the floor. He silently crept up behind the large Fallen and lunged at it, grabbing ahold of the creature's shoulders, wrapping his own hands around its neck. The Fallen shrieked and warbled in protest, clawing at the pest on its back as Jake took the knife, and thrust it directly into the side of the Fallen's head, right where two of its eyes were. The Fallen howled in pain, and began to thrash wildly, desperately attempting to get the human off of itself. With all his might, Jake yelled, and then twisted his hands that were clasped around the Fallen's chin, breaking its neck with a dry snap. Instantly, the creature stopped thrashing, and its arms fell limp as it toppled to the floor with a loud thud.

Jake dismounted from the body, and shook his head, realizing what happened. "What the hell?" he felt around his body, clutching his neck. "I- I was dead! I felt that thing break my neck, how am I alive?" The Ghost appeared next to him.
"I reawakened the Light within your body, and brought you back to life, healing your wounds. Look!" The Ghost hovered over Jake's shoulder, where one of the Fallen's shock rifles had hit him. The Ghost was indeed correct; not only was the clothing that had been singed by the bolt completely intact, but he could feel that the flesh underneath was no longer burnt.
"Hm." Jake said, not really sure what to think of what had just happened to him. "Well, uh, thank you." The Ghost nodded again. "We should keep moving." Jake said, retrieving the knife from the large Fallen's corpse before following the exit of the room, crossing a bridge. As he did, the Ghost explained what the Fallen were.

"The Fallen are scavengers- alien pirates picking at humanity's remains." Jake looked ahead to see another Fallen looking over some kind of box that had a rounded top, and a glowing green light panel on it. The Fallen heard him coming, and turned to look at him, growling. Jake took his knife and hurled it across the room, where it embedded itself directly in the center of the Fallen's head, killing it. Jake ran up to the body, retrieving the knife and cleaning the inky black liquid off on his boot. He then turned to the strange box, and studied it. "Speaking of pirates..." The Ghost interjected. "This is a loot cache. Let's take what's inside."
"And how would we do that?" Jake asked, studying the strange container, which had no indication as to how it should be opened, save the green panel on the side, which was displaying text in an alien language. Jake sighed, and tapped the panel with two fingers. Suddenly, the container hissed, and the rounded lid on the top split in half and slid open. He peered inside, seeing a new weapon- this one definitely a shotgun of some kind, with a green painted body. Jake grabbed the shotgun, and cocked the underbarrel pump, making a satisfying Chk-Chk sound. "Now this is more like it." Jake said, before continuing to follow the hallway up ahead. Suddenly, a grate on the floor ahead of him was thrust open, and another Fallen crawled out from the hole, chittering at him in anger. Jake aimed his new weapon and pulled the trigger, blowing the bug's head clean off before it could even exit the hole in the floor. Jake eyed the black blood that had splattered everywhere. Just like riding a bike. He thought, chuckling. Jake stepped over the headless corpse, following the rusty corridors further, before coming up on another large, open room filled with crates. A group of fallen were swarming from the exit of the room, led by another tall one. "Ah hell, another one of these guys." Jake groaned, cocking his shotgun and readying himself.

"Wait!" The Ghost appeared in front of him again. "I have an idea."
The Ghost proceeded to shine a light onto Jake's body, and he suddenly felt empowered, as if he was just given an extra boost of strength. "What did you just do?" Jake asked.
"I channeled some of the Traveler's Light directly from me into your body."
"The Tr- what?"
"Just focus the light and think of something you can use to kill these Fallen!"
"How should I know how to do that?"
"Just focus! It'll come to you eventually."

Jake closed his eyes and concentrated, thinking of what he could use to kill the hostile creatures in the room with him. Suddenly, he became engulfed in flames, and a shining revolver began to form in his hand. "Woah, ok," Jake said in awe. "Now what?"
"Shoot them!" Said the Ghost.
Jake raised the fiery revolver aimed at the larger one's head. Squeezing the trigger, the revolver launched a bullet of pure flaming energy straight at the Fallen's face. As it impacted in the large one's head, it exploded, sending out a huge wave of flames that wiped out the other Fallen that were accompanying the big one. Nothing at all was left of their bodies; they were gone, reduced to ash. The cinders of the fires that consumed them hung in the air for a moment, before blowing away. The fiery revolver that had been in Jake's hand faded away, and the flames surrounding his body dissipated. "What was that?" He asked, confused.
"You used the Light and converted it into solar energy. I believe that particular technique you just used is called the golden gun."
"Alright... so, what now?"
"Keep pushing forward. I'll try to locate a ship we can use to fly home."

Jake pushed forward through the rest of the facility, and eventually, the rusty metal walls gave way to old concrete, and before he knew it, he was outside again. Jake was shocked by the scene in front of him; several figures- no, Guardians- Were running around the smaller buildings ahead, and it seemed they were basically fighting a war against the Fallen in the area. Jake watched from a distance as a Guardian outfitted in thick, heavy armor fought off several Fallen with only his hands, which were dripping with the inky blood of the insectoid creatures. The Guardian was laughing the whole time, and as a Fallen swiped at his face with its three-fingered claws, the Guardian leaned back and headbutted the Fallen, knocking it down. Another Guardian dressed in a robe glided across the air, firing his rifle as Fallen tried to jump at him in the air. Suddenly, the Guardian floated upwards, and fired a solid beam of blue energy down at the ground, annihilating the Fallen shooting at him.
However, the Guardian that stood out the most was a female hunter, who was dressed in black-and-white armor, and wore a hooded white cloak with fur lining. She fired away at the Fallen with her black-painted SMG, tearing through the ranks of the Fallen bugs with ease. She had lavender blue skin, which confused Jake.

"A Fallen raiding party?" The Ghost said, startled by the scene unfolding in front of them. "We're in more trouble than I thought."
"That's an understatement." Jake commented.
A loud roaring sound was heard overhead as a massive ship that looked like it was assembled from spare parts descended, dropping a large spider-like vehicle. The ground shook as the vehicle regained its footing, and let out a deafening, metallic horn sound. "Guess we should help." Jake said, running off towards the other Guardians. Jake dodged fire left and right, Returning with bursts of rounds from his rifle. Ducking into a dilapidated parking building, Jake leaned out the window to see, but quickly shot away from it as several shock bolts whizzed past his head. Suddenly, Jake heard footsteps and he looked up to see the three Guardians he had just seen fighting the Fallen rushing into the building with him.
"I told you it was a bad idea to come back out to the divide!" The bulky one shot the hunter in a thick, Irish accent.
"I know!" She growled back. "Reminding me won't help our current situation!"
The robed one spoke up next. "It appears we have some company."
He then gestured towards Jake, who the team hadn't noticed yet.
"Oh, hey." The Hunter said. "Sorry to barge in unannounced."
"No, that's ok." Jake responded. "Today's been a crazy day for me."
The bulky guy let out a full-belly laugh. "You can say that again!"
The Huntress looked Jake up and down, and her eyes landed on the rifle in his hands. When she did, her expression changed from eagerness to disappointment.

"You're a rookie, aren't you?" she asked with no enthusiasm whatsoever.
Jake was surprised. "How did you know?"
"Well," she started. "For one, your clothes look like shit. Real Guardians tend to keep their appearances as clean as possible."
"As I always say, fashion is a Guardian's greatest weapon." The one in the robe said.
"Yeah, whatever." she said, rolling her eyes at him, before turning her gaze back to Jake. "And secondly, nobody just carries around a Khvostov like it's their main weapon."
"A what now?" Jake asked.
"A Khvostov. That old-ass shitty excuse for an auto rifle you're carrying." She said.
"Ay, take it easy on the rookie, Vorha!" the bulky guy spoke up again. "Speaking of which, we should probably introduce ourselves before we try to take on that Fallen walker out there. I'm Hound-13, and I'm a Titan." he gestured to the guy in the robes. "This is Ben Stanfield, our Warlock." Finally he patted the Huntress on the shoulder, which she flinched away from, growling at him. "And this feisty little vixen is Vorha Jun, obviously a hunter." he gestured to the cloak on her back.
Jake nodded. "I'm Jake. Jake Harding. My Ghost tells me I'm a hunter."

As if on cue, the Ghost appeared again, addressing all three of them. "Please." it said. "I need to get him to the Last City. We need some covering fire so we can get past this area."
The three looked at each other, before nodding. "We specialize in drawing attention, unwanted or wanted." Ben said.
"Alright, boys, let's move out!" Vorha shouted, and the four of them charged out of the building, the three Guardians covering Jake. Hound started glowing purple, and a round shield made of purple light formed in his hand, which he flung at the enormous spider-walker. Jake watched as the three Guardians worked almost perfectly in tandem; Hound, keeping the gun turret on the top occupied, Ben, wearing down the legs of the walker to weaken it, and Vorha, who was keeping the Fallen troops off her teammate's backs.

"Is this what being a Guardian is like?" Jake asked the Ghost.
"Kind of." it responded. "There's a lot more to it, but many Guardians just love the thrill of the fight. Now, come on, let's help while I scan the area for a ship."

Jake ducked into a garage nearby, dropping into a kneeling position and began firing away at the legs of the giant walker. The giant machine let out another metallic groan, and slowly began to turn towards Jake. "Shit!" Jake muttered as he rolled out of the way just in time, the walker's point-defense gatling gun tearing apart the ground where he had been hiding. Jake ran through the building's exit, taking cover behind a large, metal crate. Several Fallen attempted to rush him, but Jake was ready. He grabbed the first Fallen, using it as a body shield against the incoming fire of the other four. He kicked the dead corpse towards its comrades, knocking two of them down as Jake charged. Unsheathing his knife, Jake went to work, slicing one of the Fallen's throats, causing it to gag and sputter as it clutched its neck, black liquid oozing from the wound. He grabbed a dropped shock rifle off the ground and fired it once, burning a hole in the head of the other Fallen. Meanwhile, the other two who had been knocked down were getting back up, and Jake turned around to face them, throwing the rifle at them as a distraction. Jake tackled the first one, stabbing it in the neck and spinning it around, grabbing the arm holding its rifle from behind, and pulling the trigger on the other Fallen. The bolt hit it in the chest, killing the creature as its body toppled into the dirt. Jake let go of the rifle, and twisted the knife in the Fallen's neck, before pulling it back out, leaving the creature to bleed out and die.
The Ghost then spoke up. "No ship, but I'm detecting a friendly signal nearby. They may be able to help!"
Suddenly, Jake's comms crackled to life, a male voice coming through.
"I repeat, this is Shaw Han. My Vanguard operation is compromised; I'm separated from my strike team."

"Vanguard!" The Ghost said, excitement in his voice. "They're from the last city! Shaw, where are you? We can help!"
Jake's comms crackled again.
"Cas, Maeve, if you're hearing this, rendezvous at the following coordinates..."
The Ghost grumbled in frustration. "Something's interfering. I don't think he heard us, but I've got a lock on his location."
The HUD on Jake's helmet lit up displaying Shaw's location, which was somewhere within the crumbling building that lay a small ways away from him. Jake rushed in through the entrance, and followed the path indicated by his display. He entered a room with several shattered windows and some furniture in it, with a few Fallen on the other side. He quickly dropped them with several rounds to their heads, and continued to the marked coordinates, where Shaw would be waiting.

Jake entered a large clearing in the building, which had sunlight peeking in through a hole in the ceiling. In the center of the room, a figure stood clothed in red-and-blue armor, standing over the corpses of a Fallen and some other creature Jake hadn't seen yet. The figure, who Jake presumed was Shaw Han, was muttering to himself, and quickly whipped around as he heard them approach, aiming his rifle, which he quickly lowered when he realized Jake was a Guardian. "Oh, thank the Light, I didn't think we had other Guardians on patrol here." Shaw said. "Listen, my fireteam's missing, I need backup, and-" Shaw then recognized the weapon in Jake's hands, and the poor condition of his clothing. "Oh..." he said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "You're fresh out of the grave, aren't you?"
"Pretty much." Jake said.
The Ghost then appeared next to him. "We heard your distress call. We're here to help."
"Brave." Shaw said, sounding impressed. "I like it. Tall order for your first day though."
Jake nodded. "Unfortunately."
"It doesn't help that I rushed the perimeter scans, and now..." Shaw sighed. "I need to locate my team before there's nothing left to find. Sit tight, I'll get you to the City soon enough-"
Jake cut him off. "I've made it this far. Please, let me help."
Shaw shook his head. "I get it, nobody likes to be sidelined."
The Ghost then spoke up. "Guardians are stronger together. Isn't that right?"
Shaw paused, then chuckled. "You sound like Commander Zavala." He paused again, thinking it over. "All right then. Load up. This is gonna get dicey, but do what I say, and we'll get through it."
"We won't let you down!" The Ghost said confidently.
"Follow my signal." Shaw finished, running off into the rest of the building.
"Alright, Guardian, let's follow him!" The Ghost said, before Jake stopped him.

"Not so fast. I need you to explain some things to me first. Catch me up on what kind of state the world is in right now. As you said, I've been seeing some things I don't understand, and it would be beneficial for you to at least educate me on what I've missed while being dead."
The Ghost paused, looking Jake up and down, before sighing. "All right. I'll tell you everything I know."
"First," Jake interrupted. "You're gonna need a name. I can't really have a conversation with someone I don't know, can I?"
The Ghost nodded. "I've never really considered having a name..." his voice trailed off. "I've just been called Ghost my whole life."
Jake nodded. "Well then, I guess I know what I'll be calling you," he paused, smiling. "Ghost. Or, Ghostie for short."
"Please don't call me Ghostie." Ghost said with an angry tone.
"Whatever you say, Ghostie." Jake grinned. "Now, let's get to Shaw. You can tell me what you know along the way."
The two then headed off, following the direction of Shaw's signal, while Ghost explained to Jake what he had been missing...