Red dirt swirled around by wind, up and down hills on the Mars terrain. Bodies lined the ground, the stench of blood and burnt objects still in the air. Sirens started going off in the city. The evacuation process had begun. The remaining soldiers made it to the city, leaving the military base empty of life. Malachi, Alaura, and Tanis sat on the ground outside one of the buildings on the base, silently contemplating to themselves. Exhaustion racked through their systems and slight bits of horror flashed in their minds.

Malachi watched his teammates while in a daze. He couldn't stay focused on them and let his mind wander. He remembered. He remembered her. Malachi inhaled deeply and tried to overpower the pain in his heart. That was the first time in a long time that he had relived the memory. His jaw clenched tightly as he stared blankly ahead of him.

Tanis peered up at The Traveler in confusion. He didn't know who he was anymore. He felt like he could do everything his teammates could. Smile, frown, move his forehead, but he couldn't do any of that now. How could he be so different? How could he not remember anything? He remembered meeting them, but anything before that was a blur. As he searched his mind, the only memories that popped up had his team in it. No one else. There's no way he could only know two people in the world.

After a while, Alaura managed to speak up through a broken voice, "What the fuck happened?" Alaura stared at Kai's dog tags. A pain in her chest constricted her lungs, causing her to gasp for air for a second. She curled her hand up and hung her head. "We saw ourselves dead, and now we've traveled into the future? We were just attacked by aliens and..." Alaura paused and took in a shaky breath before continuing, "...my entire team was wiped out. What is going on?"

Malachi glanced at Alaura, confused about what to do. He saw her pain and the guilty look in her eye. She felt responsible for her team's death, and he couldn't blame her. He would've done the same thing. That's why he worked alone for the most part. If he didn't have anyone, he wouldn't have to worry about risking their lives or the pain that arose later. Lonely lifestyle, but it was simple in the end.

Now...Now he had a team. He didn't have to care for them or help, yet he felt compelled to, as if they were all tied together somehow. The Light beckoned him closer. With every step he took, he became more and more afraid to lose everything he had. Malachi stayed silent, lost in his own conflicted thoughts.

Dinklebot sighed and stared off into the distance. Macey shook herself as if she were a dog and rested on one of the boxes nearby. No one answered Alaura. Most of them didn't know what to say. She just lost everything. Her family. Her team. Nothing they could say would soothe her broken heart.

Jarvis looked at all of them and the back of his shell twirled around once. He blinked, and his eye shined a blazing blue before speaking, "The Vex can travel through time via time gates. The past, present, and future are at their disposal. There's a possibility for anything to happen, so the chances of them being able to counteract them are endless. When we stepped through the gate, we ended up in a time called The Golden Age. From what Macey was able to gather from the system, we're at the very end of it. Once the Darkness takes over, that's it. Humanity will become extinct. We're at the brink of a collapse."

Dinklebot looked at the other two ghosts and the light in its eye went out for a few seconds, as if he became frustrated. He simplified it as much as he could, "Basically, we altered time and now we're all screwed."

Jarvis bobbed up and down in agreement. "Yes...we altered time just by being here. Who knows what else we've changed in our actions."

Tanis spoke up first, "How do we get back?"

"You don't." Dinklebot stated bluntly.

Jarvis built upon what his colleague said and a dark tone settled in the depth of his British accent, "There are hundreds of years between then and now. You'd have to go through the portal countless times before you get back to your own."

Malachi didn't move his gaze from the scenery. He sighed heavily, his heart aching from the news. "So is the future we saw set in stone? Is that really what's going to happen?" Making a last stand was noble. Seeing humanity crumble? That's the last thing he'd want to do in his life. Why couldn't they just leave it to someone else? They've done enough damage as is, or so Malachi thought.

Jarvis and Dinklebot responded simultaneously, "We don't know."

Alaura cleared her throat and lifted her head so she could look at her new team. They appeared broken, confused, and lost. I could whip 'em into shape...They need to be strong to fight this...if we can fight this at all. She thought to herself. "We could try to change it. Then again, that could be exactly what causes it."

"Precisely." Jarvis replied.

"Why must the concept of time be so complicated?" Tanis wondered out loud in frustration. He rubbed his left temple and listened as the metal of his fingers scraped against his metal face.

"Well, we're going to stay and fight. There are no other options," Alaura concluded. She stood up and put Kai's dog tags around her neck. Her eyes shifted from Malachi to Tanis, who made no effort to look at her. "We were given these powers for a reason. Let's use them to our advantage. All we have to do is learn how to use them correctly."

Macey moved a bit from her resting place and projected, "Using your powers because of extreme emotion isn't the way to go. I think training is a good idea."

"I'm in," Tanis responded quickly. "If I can learn more about my powers...then maybe I can learn a bit more about myself in the process."

Alaura and Tanis peered at Malachi. For the longest time, he stayed still, lost in his own thoughts. He traced his thumb across his jaw, brushing by stubble and dirt along the way. He licked his lips and talked lowly, "I uh...I haven't worked in a team in a long time. I'm not really comfortable with it...And killing aliens? Stopping the collapse? We're not heroes. We're people. We can't just win this upcoming war."

Tanis shook his head at Malachi's negativity. "You worked fine out there on the battlefield. We were mowing aliens down like no tomorrow. I count that as being able to work as a team."

"Yeah, and it doesn't matter if we win the war. We just...We just have to save humanity. No matter the cost," Alaura emphasized. Standing by and doing nothing while humanity crumbled was not on her to do list. If they could stop it, even if it hardly makes a difference, at least they tried.

Malachi scoffed, "So, what? After this crisis is over, can humanity protect itself from these alien bastards?"

"We'll never know until it happens." Alaura walked to him and held her hand out. She waited for a couple seconds before adding, "We could really use you on our team. You're a quick thinker and you can finally prove what a damn good sharpshooter you are."

Malachi stared at her hand and mulled it over. He ran his tongue over his teeth and made a high pitched sound. A sudden smile swept over his lips as he asked, "Was that finally a compliment?"

Alaura stifled a snort and watched as he looked up at her. It took all of her strength to not say something witty. She inhaled deeply and declared softly, "Don't get used to it. Are you on our team, or not?"

His hand twitched slightly and that's when he knew. He'd rather go out with a bang than being alone waiting for the sweet release of death. Having a team was a setback for him and brought up so many unwanted memories, but everything has a downside. All he had to do was make the best of it. Malachi took Alaura's hand and stood up. "I'm in."

Hours seemed to excruciatingly pass. They scavenged the base for ammo and some food. At one point, they came across the armory. The ghosts excitedly whispered to each other about the machine guns and rocket launchers. Once the team asked about it and became informed, they each grabbed a weapon. Alaura gladly snatched one of the rocket launchers off of the wall, while Malachi and Tanis picked out machine guns.

They wandered for a bit after that, ammo restocked and weapons loaded. Alaura yawned and mentioned something about sleep, so they headed to the barracks for some rest. The huge room was messy. Papers strewn about, books open on the floor, beds unmade, trash everywhere, it was a disaster. The soldiers that left must've taken everything they could grab before they ran for the city. The tan walls reflected the look of the sunset washing in from the windows and bounced off of the hard wooden floor. All three of them set their weapons down next to the beds they claimed.

Tanis took interest in the lockers on the far side of the room and looked them over. He brushed his metal fingers against some of the ajar doors to peek inside. "Guys, check out the lockers. They left them open."

Alaura couldn't wait to remove her armor. She was glad she had thin clothing on underneath; the hot Mars temperature was almost as bad as that desert mission she had a while back. One hundred degrees with armor and supplies added on nearly drowned her in sweat and aching muscles. Alaura sat down on the hard bed she had chosen and rubbed her sore neck. "We can't just go through their stuff."

"We don't really have any other clothes." Malachi joined Tanis in peering through them. He had a point. They only had thin clothes underneath the heavy armor. The clothes they came in were dirty and used. What was the harm in taking some clothes?

"Plus, they abandoned the place. They aren't using them anytime soon," Tanis added with a shrug. His bright mechanical eyes flickered from Alaura to Malachi, then back to the lockers. He sifted through one of them, looking for nothing in particular.

Alaura stared at her teammates in dismay. "Seriously?"

"I'm taking this coat. It's official," Tanis pulled a long, black coat from the locker. The soft material was laced with silver markings along the sides and the bottom trim. He admired it for a second before putting it on hastily.

"Fine," Alaura acknowledged. She joined them in their rummaging party and grabbed a duffel bag from the side of one of the beds. She emptied the contents and searched through clothes in the locker to find sizes she could comfortably fit in. Alaura pulled out a fine long blue cloth with a gold border line. She ran her fingers across it and suppressed a smile. If the boys knew she was glad she found something so nice, they would point it out and mock her for not joining them sooner. Alaura tucked the cloth into the belt on her waist and let it dangle down.

Malachi put a few shirts on his arm until he discovered a long gray hood and cloak resting on one of the hangers. He dropped the shirts onto the bed next to him and instantly yanked the cloak out. He put it on over his armor and stood in front of the full body mirror in the corner. Malachi quirked an eyebrow and nodded to himself in approval.

Alaura peered over at him and couldn't resist. She felt compelled to comment with a devious smirk, "Why did you pick a hood? Is it because you're a shady guy?"

Malachi glared at her through the mirror. He retorted, "Hoods happen to be cool. Way cooler than cloths that latch onto your waist."

She snorted and defended her choice. "Hey, this has multiple purposes! Wash cloth, symbol, fireteam color, graceful mark, weapon, and a good distraction when needed."

"No one's going to be looking at that cloth as a distraction." He checked Alaura out through the reflection and made sure she noticed. He grinned widely and winked at her.

Alaura threw a pile of rejected clothes at him before turning to Tanis. He had been quiet for a little while and she wanted to make sure he was okay. She commented on his choice of personalized clothing, "I like your coat, Tanis."

Tanis nodded in acknowledgement and showed it off. I fit a little snug around his armor, but he could always find better armor. His blue eyes looked down at his coat in admiration. "Thanks. For some reason, it called out to me, as if I've wanted one for so long." He paused for a long time. Tanis wanted to say something else right after, but it didn't feel right. He had second thoughts and contemplated whether to say it. Minutes passed and the team had finally settled on their beds before he questioned, "Do you two remember your pasts?"

Malachi glanced over at Alaura for a split second and hesitated. He tried to play it off by running his hands through his hair in thought. He didn't want to seem too quick on the response. He answered truthfully, but vaguely, "It's a bit hazy most of the time."

Alaura laughed and responded quickly, "Might be because of the late nights at the bar, Dean Winchester." She internally laughed at her own reference and faced Tanis. Her smirk fell. As much as she wanted to tell him what happened, she couldn't. It would drive him insane. For all she knew, he'd run off and never be found again. Alaura concluded her response, "Your past doesn't really matter, Tanis. None of ours does. What matters is what's happening now."

Tanis waited for a moment. He blinked a few times in wonder. Feelings of doubt washed over him. Not doubt for his teammates, but doubt for himself. If he couldn't remember anything about himself, what good was he to the team? "I just find it so odd that I can't remember anything."

Malachi stretched on his bed and leaned against the wall. He watched as Tanis grew quiet and wondered how he felt. Without expressions, it was difficult to tell what he was going on inside that metal head of his. Malachi elaborated in the best way he could, "Have you ever thought that it's because you didn't want to remember it? A lot of...Exos go through memory wipes from time-to-time. It's probably better that way. Plus, not remembering helps you focus. We need you here, buddy."

Tanis nodded slowly and hesitated, "Okay...buddy."

The three guardians laid down in bed and watched theceiling for a while. Sometimes someone would speak up and the others wouldanswer. Most of the time, it was just silence that reigned over the warm, halfempty room. The ghosts sat on the bed side tables next to their respectiveguardians. The little robots watched and tried to comprehend what was going oninside their guardians' minds. Malachi and Alaura got lost in their thoughtsbefore sleep finally took over. Tanis quietly talked with Dinklebot the rest ofthe night.