AN: This one was a little hard to write. There's so much going on. Hope you enjoy!

The guardians and Echo IX ran outside of the base to avoid the early warning system's screeching. Tanis and Echo IX blinked rapidly in an attempt to distract themselves from their disoriented receptors. Putting any pressure on their heads would be a fruitless attempt. Pressure on metal wouldn't do anything but harm them.

Alaura and Malachi grimaced and steadied themselves against the building. Alaura rubbed her temples and tried to ignore the ringing in her ears. Malachi hummed to himself, eyes closed as he leaned against the wall. He hummed louder gradually until he could hear himself overshadow the ringing noise. When things turned awry, humming helped the most to gain his attention. That's how she used to calm Malachi down from time-to-time.

Tanis nearly yelled out above the ringing noise, "Why is the alarm sounding off?"

Echo IX jerked backwards a bit at his loud voice and steadied himself. He peered at the others for an answer, but no one came forward. He wasn't going to answer something he knew nothing about. Echo glanced up into the sky, a nervous shock running through his system. "Where's The Traveler?" He talked as loud as Tanis did.

Alaura winced and called them out, "Guys, lower your voices, please." She stopped rubbing her temples and snapped back to reality. She pushed her pain aside, and checked to see if Echo was bluffing.

No.

The Traveler's gone. Alaura walked out into the dirt to get a better view of the sky. Maybe the planet's rotation had something to do with it. No. Still not here. She narrowed her eyes after almost accidentally glancing at the sun and focused on her team. "You think The Traveler has something to do with it?"

Three little ghosts came outside to join the party. Macey bobbed in front of the other two, without a care in the world. Jarvis scanned the perimeter once he was outside, but nothing showed up on his radar. Dinklebot headed straight towards Tanis and immediately questioned, "Is everyone okay?" Tanis simply nodded. Dinklebot's white shell twirled and his eye moved back and forth between the two Exos. He replied, "We thought you sounded off the alarm."

Macey's projector lit up instantly against the wall of the building. "Incoming transmission from the military." The text didn't move at all for more than thirty seconds. Macey shook her blue shell, blinked a few times, and tried to comprehend the hasty message the base received. She had linked herself to the base's equipment the other day, so getting this transmission was no problem. "Enemies are making their way to Earth. Military transmissions are hectic right now. They're requesting immediate backup."

Malachi's humming ceased. He opened his brown eyes and asked, "Enemies...plural? Or an army of one alien type?"

Macey cleared the text on the projector. She scanned over the most recent transmissions. "Plural. Vex and Hive fighting for dominance."

Jarvis floated next to Alaura, his black shell bobbing up and down in the air. His British accent coasted through the air, "They must have passed Mars, knowing you three would resist once more."

Dinklebot agreed. "The Traveler must've caught an early transmission and left before the alarm went off."

"Get three jump ships into the air while we grab our stuff," Alaura ordered the ghosts. They all bobbed as if they nodded in agreement, and flew off to the hanger. She motioned for her team to go back inside.

Echo IX spoke up, "What about me?"

Tanis stopped walking and turned to him. "You're coming with us. You have to fight." If Tanis' eyes could emanate desperation, they would. He's seen the atrocities of a battle with trained soldiers. Now, they were heading to Earth, most likely in the middle of a populated city. He didn't want to think about how many casualties there would be.

Echo IX remained silent for a few seconds, mulling the idea over. He vouched for them, sure. Did them a favor. Fighting aliens, though? That's something he wasn't getting paid to do. He moved his mouth to speak, but stopped short. Exo lives are on the line here. Hundreds and thousands of Exos live on Earth. "Fine. I'll do it for the Exos."

Alaura balled her hand into a fist and furrowed her brow in anger. She couldn't turn around to face him. If she did, she would've socked him right in his goddamn mouth. "What about for the human lives on Earth?"

Echo IX held back a laugh. Instead, he snorted, "You have no idea what humans have put Exos through. I'm doing this for my kind. Not yours." With that, he walked away to his jumpship parked in the hanger.

Alaura grit her teeth and went inside bitterly. Tanis and Malachi glanced at each other nervously before following her to retrieve their belongings. Once they got everything, they rushed to their new jumpships and took off towards the stars.

The ghosts teleported the guardians from their ships onto Earth's surface.

Chaos reigned.

Golden Age France faired well before the invasion. Tall skyscrapers of all shapes as far as the eye could see, large ports, hangars for jump ships, and all the while still maintaining a lot of greenery. The Pyrenees mountains still stood in the back of the city, allowing a sense of familiarity to wash over the out of time human guardians. But now...now the city was composed of blood, death, and destruction. Pained cries emanated in the streets, accompanied by hard footsteps hitting the pavement. People ran as fast as they could away from the alien species, tugging along children, even if they weren't theirs. Smoke rose from the top of fiery buildings and fire spread like wildfire. Military personnel and the police force were out and about, protecting the citizens until they ran out of ammo.

Hive and Vex clashed in the middle of the streets. Some warriors stood back and shot from a distance, while others went toe-to-toe in a death match. Sparks of blue and red gunfire launched at the opposite sides, some hitting their targets, others missing. Screeches and wails occurred from both sides. The fireteam couldn't tell if they were from anguish, or war cries.

The guardians inhaled deeply in an attempt to compose themselves. All they had to do was make sure the two sides didn't advance on the city as a whole. Alaura took hold of her automatic rifle and gestured ahead of her. Jarvis connected to comms through her helmet, allowing Alaura to speak to the other two guardians, "We're setting up shop over there. We're going around the enemies to ensure our safety. Got it?"

The other two agreed and followed her to the area. They sprinted across the battleground, raising no suspicion whatsoever. It wasn't until Malachi broke formation towards the end and pulled his new machine gun off of his back. "Let's see what this baby can do." He held the bottom of the heavy gun with one hand, the other on the trigger. He fired it, rapidly dropping bullet casings to the floor. Bullets flew through the air towards the back of the Vex. Some bullets missed, and made it farther to the front soldiers of the Hive.

Alaura made it to the original destination with Tanis, and she quickly jerked back when she heard the machine gun going off. She snapped, "Malachi, don't break formation!"

Malachi sprayed as many bullets as he could across the field. Vex and Hive fell and crumbled onto the ground. That's when both sides turned on the guardian. Malachi's brown eyes widened.

Small blue text scrawled over the side of his helmet from Macey, "This wasn't your brightest idea."

He took that verbal hit. He wasn't going to give a snarky remark to his ghost, who had been nothing but kind to him. Plus, she was little and adorable. Not that he would admit that out loud, of course. Malachi's machine gun spurted nothing out, and clicked when he pulled the trigger. Empty. He tossed the machine gun onto his back. He threw his hand out, launching a trip mine from thin air towards the enemies. The lasers at the top lit up, and waited for unsuspecting enemies to trigger it to explode. It gave him enough time to scramble back to his team. "I had it handled."

Alaura snorted as she fired at the wave of aliens, "Is that what you call it?"

Tanis aimed at the little white forms on the Vex's stomachs and fired his scout rifle. He stayed focused in on the scope as he called out, "I think he did well."

Malachi shot a look of triumph at Alaura, even though she couldn't see. He appreciated Tanis backing him up. "Thank you, Tanis."

Alaura extended her arm out to uppercut an acolyte that got too close. That's how a team gets killed. She watched the enemies move closer. Chaos still reigned behind them, but was slowly dying down as the people managed to escape farther into the city. Some aliens had teleported behind them and chased after the citizens. Alaura tried to remain focused. "Tanis, on your left!" She threw out her hand, and without thinking, launched a flash grenade out of thin air.

The enemies were blinded by it, but Tanis had looked directly into it too. He stumbled backwards, dropped his gun, and put his hands to his eyes. He cried out, "I can't see!" Tanis spun around, trying to find the enemies so he could melee them.

"Sorry! I didn't know!" She fired her fusion rifle at the enemies, taking two out at a time. Malachi snickered about her grenade failure. "If I hear a word about this, consider yourself next," she threatened him. Malachi stifled another laugh and continued on shooting the enemies.

Soon, Fireteam Riptide was in sync.

All three of them were mowing down enemies. The more they came, the more bullets were wasted. The heavy smell of sulfur and burning objects hung in the air. Sweat formed on Alaura's and Malachi's faces. Bullet casings hit the ground faster than they could be counted. With each reload, the team called it out so the others knew to protect them.

Tanis threw his hand out at one of the enemies, and quickly brought it back to his chest in a fist. His hand glowed purple as the minotaur's energy was ripped from him and he vanished. Tanis used that gained energy and threw out a vortex grenade. The grenade sucked in any surrounding enemies and pulled them towards the center, each moment damaging them more than the last.

Malachi got up close and personal with a few acolytes. He took out his knife with a flip trick, and swiped it across one of the acolyte's heads. It screeched and shielded its bleeding eyes. Malachi kicked it, launching it back into its other friends. All the acolytes fell and struggled to get up. He tossed a trip mine at them, and when it sensed movement, it blew up right in the middle of the group. Malachi grinned to himself and listened to the others' breathing over comms. Ragged. Heavy. They were doing a lot of work, but no one had said anything in the past few minutes.

Alaura noticed a big grouping of Hive and Vex towards the middle of the street. She pulled the rocket launcher off of her back, and set the back of it on her shoulder for support. She aimed down the sight and licked her dry lips before firing the shot. The missile headed straight towards the middle of the group, and upon explosion, the missile broke into many little explosive balls. The little explosives bounced around until it hit the targets, exploding on impact.

Malachi glimpsed upwards towards the sky. A battle had formed between Hive ships and Intergalactic Military ships. Fire and smoke reigned in the sky as blaster shots were aimed at each side. One Hive ship dwindled down and caught on fire as it fell out of the sky. Malachi called out, "Look out!"

The three guardians rushed to cover as the ship crashed into the building next to them. The ship scraped downwards, causing glass to rain from the sky as it shattered. When it couldn't fall anymore, the ship teeter-tottered in the window of a high floor until it came crashing down onto the Earth and onto some Vex. The team was shaken out of their focus and watched as the spot they once were in was crushed under the weight of the heavy ship.

Tanis tugged the edge of his coat to let the glass on him fall to the ground. He took a moment to calm his senses and actually think. "Where's Echo IX?"

Alaura grit her teeth in annoyance at the mention of his name. The Exo. The merc on standby. The guy who watched her team die. She wouldn't forgive him for not stepping in at the battle on Mars. Including him in that battle could've meant her team's survival. "It doesn't matter. We have to focus."

Tanis didn't take that as an answer. They had to find him. Surely, he would help now. "He said he would come fight. You think he deserted us?"

Malachi disagreed, "Not his style."

Tanis had a sense of confusion in his tone, "How would you know that?"

"I can analyze people. It's a talent." Malachi pushed his hood down against his shoulders. The hood certainly shielded him from the sunlight, which allowed his armor to remain cooler. That helped immensely.

"You have talent? I'm surprised!" Alaura stifled a laugh and smiled widely. She couldn't resist the opportunity to poke fun at him. She fired a few shots of her auto rifle at oncoming enemies.

Malachi scoffed, "Don't start something you won't want to finish, Power Fists." He threw a trip mine down a little ways on his vulnerable side and turned at the enemies to shoot. He stopped for a second, and put his gun to his side. "Well, speak of the devil."

Echo IX marched in from the other side of the battlefield, firing his gun any chance he got. He lead a large group of Exos, who came in guns blazing. Exos of all different sizes and colors fought in the onslaught of the battlefield. Tanis stared at them in awe, and lost track of the battle in front of him.

Alaura was about to say something until she noticed civilians taking off in their jumpships. Dozens flew into the sky, but were caught in the crossfire between the aerial battle. She started sprinting across the battlefield, punching any enemy that got in her way until her fist ached. She dodged shots and slid to cover when available. "Jarvis, get the ship into the air."

Tanis broke his gaze with the Exos and yelled out, "What are you doing?"

Malachi watched Alaura in horror. If she were to die, the team would have no direction. She was their undeclared tactician. She knew more about fighting than both him and Tanis combined. Plus, who else would he bug when the time was right? "You can't leave us here! You know battle tactics more than we do!"

Alaura's breath staggered as she ran towards her jumpship. She coughed and nearly tripped on some rubble. "These people have no defense! Humanity is on the line. These people need to get somewhere safe, and I have to see to that."

Malachi started forging ahead. "I'll go instead. Let me handle it." Fear settled in the pit of his stomach. I can't lose anyone else. Not when I have the power to stop it. His hands ignited in flames and the golden gun appeared. He used each shot wisely as he made his way towards the other end of the battlefield, Tanis hot on his heels.

Alaura ordered stressfully, "I got it. Stay here."

"Alaura!" Malachi's golden gun disappeared. He watched Alaura's jumpship fly away with the other civilian ships into space. He grimaced and kicked the closest Vex near him. "Shit..."

"Dinklebot, is Jarvis still on comms?" Tanis summoned his strength, his whole body glowing purple. He jumped up and threw his arms out at the enemies. Nothing came out, disappointing Tanis instantly. He tried again and again, to no avail. Frustration built up in his system, causing him to try again and angrily cry out. A nova bomb flew from his palm to a big group of enemies. The bomb exploded, killing many enemies in the process. He sighed in slight content, but his wiring still felt a bit tight. It bothered him that he couldn't control his power, yet Malachi seemed to do so with ease.

"He's out of range," Dinklebot reported sadly. They were only prototypes. The Traveler didn't grace them with the gift of long external communications. There was no point. The ghosts were never separated before. They never needed it until now.

Malachi cried out in frustration and threw his knife at a Vex's glowing white stomach. "Are you kidding me?" The stomach burst open, releasing the liquid. The metal body clanked against the ground.

Tanis gazed up, and a whole new horrible feeling settled in the pit of his wiring. "That's the least of our worries. Look," Tanis pointed up towards the sky.

The Traveler slowly moved across the sky, almost like there was an emergency. Except...except it wasn't heading straight towards The Darkness near the asteroid belt. It was heading towards Venus.

The Traveler was fleeing for safety.

A loud siren sounded off, echoing against the city's buildings. Tanis and Malachi kept fighting, but glanced around every other moment to catch onto what was going on. Huge cannons and guns rose from beneath the earth near Warmind Rasputin's bunker. Almost immediately, they fired simultaneously at The Traveler.

The Traveler took the hits willingly as it attempted to escape. Pieces of its bottom fell off and scattered across the land. More guns fired, and explosives erupted against The Traveler's shell. One final hit caused The Traveler to be immobilized and release a bright, nearly blinding light on impact. The ray of light spread in all directions across the galaxy.

Warmind Rasputin seemed pleased he put in ABHORENT IMPERATIVE earlier as an emergency action. This forced The Traveler to protect humanity if it wanted the chance to survive.

Now, humanity had a chance.

Alaura stayed put in her seat, but felt so unnerved. She left her team. Left them there...because she felt she had to do something. She couldn't sit back and watch these people flee from Earth without protection. Now that she was up here, among the stars and using the hyperdrive, she wasn't sure how much she could actually do.

The doubt set in.

Her mind had been so frantic earlier, but now that she had real time to think, she assessed the situation. One ship. Against hundreds of alien fighters. That is...impossible. Her ship couldn't even fire bullets. How could she protect these people? No gun, no real way of using her powers, nothing.

All she could do was guide them to safety.

Alaura inhaled deeply and put her head on straight. She leaned forward in her chair and looked across the dashboard at all of the buttons. They all seemed foreign to her. Different colors, sizes, and none of them had names or any kind of caption underneath them. She gave up and spoke to her ghost, "Jay, get me on comms with the ship up front. They're headed straight for The Darkness."

Jarvis tried to get a line open, but something was wrong. "Communications are blocked."

"By what?"

"The line is in use," he answered simply.

Alaura took her helmet off and tossed it behind her. "Is there any way we can catch up?"

"This ship is going as fast as it can go."

Alaura grimaced. Doubt played on her alert nerves. "Shit...shit...shit!" She cried out. There was nothing she could do. Not until-

The ships jerked out of hyperdrive and halted right before the asteroid belt. The Darkness sat on the other side, but once it saw the ships, it moved towards them.

Alaura took initiative and looked at her ghost for guidance, "Jarvis, give me a safe path." When she didn't get an answer, she furrowed her brow. "Jarvis?"

"There isn't one." Jarvis gave up and snuggled into her neck, as if it gave him comfort or safety.

The rearview camera on her dash showed a white light coming towards them. The same white light she remembered from that hectic day in the small town. A slight panic jolted through her system. The light didn't harm them when it beamed them up to The Traveler, but she had no idea what effect it would have on the ships.

Light on one side. Darkness on the other.

They were trapped in the middle, with nowhere to go.

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