"Who's to say this alien isn't like the others?" Governor Mihn questioned furiously.

The fireteam wasn't even ten minutes into the meeting with the intergalactic council before all of them began bickering back and forth on what needed to be done. The only councilors present were the three they had met last time, Mihn, Wicco, and Rosaline. The other governors never showed up, or, unfortunately for them, were dead.

Alaura bit her tongue hard and accidentally drew some blood. She focused her fiery eyes at the governor and defended herself, "I'm the same person you met before, and if you aren't fine with it, then so be it." I'm here to save humanity. Not get your damn approval.

Malachi tossed in his own opinion, "The end of the fucking world is at your door step, and you've been fighting with us over Alaura's looks. Priorities, right?" He stood up from his chair abruptly and sauntered over to stand with the rest of the group. "Just give us a goddamn army and we'll be out of your pretentious hair."

A small scowl settled over Alaura's features. She forced herself to not look his way and stayed on topic. "What my teammate means is if you give us some soldiers to fight with, it'll make everything easier for us. We can save more people. Teach them how to fight these aliens you so desperately need to get rid of."

Governor Rosaline shook her head before stating, "We need all the men we have on those front lines. There are only a handful of cities left. They are our only hope of saving those civilians."

Tanis had stayed quiet for too long. Nothing was getting through to the council, and what they couldn't waste was time. They desperately needed it to plan and act. Words clawed their way through his mind and out of his mouth, "We are the soldiers' only hope of surviving. Even if you don't allow some to join us, we can send a message out to the bases about how to defeat these things."

There wasn't enough of anything. Soldiers, safety, tactics, or even time. Orders weren't getting out quick enough, but even then, some bases wouldn't respond. The galaxy fell apart at too quick of a rate. Mihn locked eyes with the Exo Hunter in the room. He tilted his head up a bit and corrected his posture before addressing him, "Echo IX, what do you have to say about all of this?"

Echo IX looked around at the people around him. Was this actually a question? He'd given his word once. Why did he have to again? Did the council not trust him? He leaned back in the chair he sat in and motioned towards the fireteam. "Give them the army. This fireteam is more capable of leading than you think." There had to be something more. He drizzled some icing on the cake to perfect his answer, "It'll buy you some time to get somewhere safe."

Alaura threw her arms out, motioning to her teammates while letting out some pent up anger. She built onto what Echo said, "We are the best chance to defeating whatever The Darkness is, or at least hold off what comes from it."

A dead silence settled in for a few moments. The governors agreed with what she said, but none of them wanted to come forward and admit it. Governor Wicco wrung his hands, keeping his eyes trained on something in the room. He let out a short breath and concluded, "Your attacks were more successful than our army's. Most soldiers retreated to aid the civilians to safety, rather than dying on the battlefield. I don't blame them."

Governor Mihn snarled, "That still makes them deserters."

"I don't think you understand the meaning of that word," Governor Rosaline shot back. Mihn glared at her, but she stared right back. She wasn't scared of him.

Wicco ignored the other two and moved on, "Which one of you is the fireteam leader?"

That was a good question. None of them have considered that before. All three guardians thought back to the past and how they worked together. They didn't fit together like puzzle pieces, but they came close to it. Malachi glanced at his team and was the first to come up with an answer, "There isn't one. We're a team"

"We contribute different skills and thinking," Tanis added. The personalities clashed from time-to-time, but what team didn't have problems?

Alaura smiled softly at how true those statements were. These two were nothing like her old team, but damn. There was a whole new team dynamic going on here. "Having a leader means authority above the others. Doesn't really work out with our team dynamic." Trust me. Having both of them follow orders at all times would be a miracle.

Mihn turned to sharply look at Wicco in disbelief and utter disgust, "You're not really considering this, are you?"

"We are going to contact a few bases to see what strings we can pull," Rosaline declared before Wicco could put a word in. Wicco grinned in exhaustion and nodded in agreement.

"Not you two! Are we not consid-"

The door to the council room burst open and shots fired. The guardians couldn't see anything but the council's reactions. A blast bolt collided with Governor Mihn's head, spewing blood all over the place before he fell out of the frame. The other two governors took out their weapons and fired, yelling at each other to get to safety. Wicco took two hits to the chest before he collapsed to the ground. Rosaline yelled profanities above Wicco's last few screams. She backed up out of the hologram frame; a scream erupted from her throat, and a loud thud followed quickly after.

All three guardians stood there, mouths agape as they stared at the empty holograms. Echo remained silent and waited at the edge of his seat in anticipation.

Noises jostled around in the background. A few slashes. A few mechanical whirrs. A Vex hobgoblin popped up in the hologram frame, staring down at the dead bodies. It moved a bit before making eye contact with the fireteam. It stared at them with its cold, unfeeling eye. It reached forward and pushed a button, causing all three holograms to shut off.

Tanis shook himself out of his shock. He took initiative with the first thing that came to mind, "Ghosts, can you hack into the government's system?"

The ghosts all glanced at each other warily. They floated closer to the console and began to get into the computer. They all answered simultaneously, "We can try."

"Why do you want to do that?" Echo questioned, standing up from his chair. He moved closer to the console, which lit up in bright colors he didn't know it had.

Alaura tore her eyes away from the empty space where the holograms once were. She started to pace the room, slowly curling her hands into fists. "They're there for information, right? They can't just be on a killing spree. The Vex are smarter than that." If the council had been taken out, then what next? The bases will be running around like chickens with their heads cut off. No unison. No new orders. They'll have to depend on themselves, which worried her the most.

"How do you know?" Malachi spoke up. He ran his hand through his hair. It was only a matter of time before the good-for-nothing government fell. Now that left all the pressure on the fireteam, which didn't bode well for any of them, or their mentalities. The weight of the world was literally on their shoulders.

Alaura replied, short and simple, "It's exactly what I would do."

The ghosts worked hard to get into the system. Macey ran scans, while Dinklebot performed some test runs against the firewall. Jarvis poked around in order to find a backdoor of some kind. The person that made the system was incredibly smart. After a few moments, all three of them came up with the same Vex encryptions. The text popped up onto the screen, allowing all the others to see.

Echo asked without hesitation, "What does that mean?"

Jarvis backed away slowly, breaking his connection to the console. "It's too late."

"They were in the system before the council even knew. They know everything. Schematics. Tactics. Where the troops are placed." Dinklebot couldn't think of how many repercussions this would have. This was it. The end of the end. Dinklebot added, "The army was right to retreat. The Vex was already a whole battle plan ahead of them."

"Damn!" Alaura launched a chair across the room, breaking it on impact. She stomped out of the room and tugged at the ends of her short white hair. Jarvis followed immediately after her, worried for his guardian.

Tanis pointed towards the door in confusion. "What's been up with her lately?"

That's a good question, Tanis. She has been acting weird lately. Malachi frowned and chased after Alaura. Macey floated behind him, trying to keep up with his speedy pace. He pushed open the front door and walked out into the late night. The streets of London were incredibly dark; without the moon, Malachi couldn't imagine how anyone would see on the street. The night was accompanied by a brisk breeze, which swept softly over the land. The stars shined brightly up in the night sky. Without all of the electricity, the sky shone much clearer than before. His brown eyes locked onto Alaura, who was standing in the middle of the street.

She dragged her hands down her face while attempting to breathe steadily. The breeze helped cool her hot skin, but not enough to calm her down. Alaura crossed her arms once she felt a presence behind her. She thought heard someone follow her out of the building. The question was who. She didn't turn to face them and called out, "I just needed air."

Jarvis analyzed her and brought up her vitals. He pointed out, "Your heart rate is increasi-"

Alaura put her hands out and intervened on his findings in an annoyed tone, "Thank you, Jarvis." Jarvis was taken aback, twirling his shell as he processed what she meant. He focused on his guardian, who appeared to be in distress.

Malachi walked over and stood next to her, giving her a minute in silence. He stared out in the distance, listening to the calm sounds of nature around them. Alaura glanced over at him and looked away just as quick. That's when he knew she was ready to talk. "You completely shut down in the last battle." It was blunt to say that first thing, but he didn't want to beat around the bush with this. Alaura remained silent, causing Malachi to look at her. "You've been angrier than normal. I know Tanis doesn't usually read people correctly...but I can see right through you, Alaura."

Her body tensed up. She played it off and attempted to change the subject, "What? No nickname this time?" Malachi never tore his gaze away. Alaura sighed, knowing he wouldn't budge until she talked. She'd be lucky if he let this slide.

Alaura's stomach twisted inside of her at the thought of his possible reactions. Too many questions swam in her mind. What was he going to think of her? Will he be helpful, or just downright brutal? She didn't even know what was truthfully happening to her, so could she explain it correctly? Would she word it wrong and cause him to react differently? What happens when he think she's unfit for the team? She put her head in her hands for a long moment.

Once she found the words, she finally confided in him, "There's so much pressure on us. I went from being in charge of a fireteam one day, and then being thrown into saving the galaxy the next. Do you know how many people that is? How many people have died so far? Millions. Billions. All of them civilians and soldiers. I've failed them. Failed them all." She pointed towards the building, referencing to the hologram conference they had left behind, "We're always a step behind and I hate it. We can never be there to save everyone."

There were two ways to go with this. Brutally honest, or the nice route. Malachi weighed his options for a moment. Truthful would be a breath of fresh air, but that would be too predictable. Nice would be unexpected. Might win a few brownie points for being different. He settled on it and spoke up, "You are just one person, Alaura. You can't save everyone."

"But I have to try! If not, who does that make me?" A hypocrite? A failed soldier? A broken human being? Alaura hesitated on her next few words. "Sometimes I wonder if I should give up and step away from this altogether. I couldn't think while fighting Omnigul."

Malachi didn't step in this time. He actually listened. The ghosts kept to themselves for the time being, listening along as well. Alaura declared, pain emanating from every word she spoke, "Maybe I'm unfit for duty because..." The screaming she heard in her head never ended. It was always in the back of her mind, just waiting for a silence to kick in to kick up the volume. Alaura closed her red eyes; the guilt was eating her alive. She continued, "...everything is finally getting to me. I don't know if it's the guilt, or if it's some kind of twisted joke my mind is making. Even worse, it could be I'm developing PTSD..."

He couldn't think of anything worse than going through that. He knew it all too well. The pain, the nightmares, the agonizing restless nights, it never ended. Malachi set his hands on Alaura's shoulders and stared right into her eyes. His voice was low, but calm, "You are doing the best you possibly can. Maybe all of this is too much for you, but if we just sit by and let the world burn, more people are going to die."

A breath barely passed Alaura's lips, and it almost seemed like she didn't speak at all, "What if I lose it on the battlefield?"

"You've done worse to those poor Hive bastards." Malachi dropped his hands to his sides as both of them laughed for a brief second. Alaura smiled, but failed to keep it up. Malachi added onto what he said, "I believe in you. It's okay to feel worried. It's okay to feel tired. I've been through this shit before. Believe me. If I can get through this, so can you."

Macey got in front of them and projected using the hologram, "When did you go through this?"

"You never get over the first time you take someone's life..." he trailed off, averting his eyes away from the group. His brown eyes locked onto the ground, staring at each pebble embedded into the street. The grin on his face faded. "My sister's death didn't help much, either."

"The guardians have much more in common than we previously thought." Jarvis said to Macey. Macey bumped into him, knocking him to the side as if to say be quiet. Both of them watched their guardians.

Getting all of that off of her chest surely took some pressure off. She thought Tanis would've been the first to confront her about her feelings, but no. This was a pleasant surprise. Alaura hugged Malachi. She knew she wouldn't hear the end of the rant that followed her next few words, "Thank you, Malachi."

Malachi raised his arms, not sure of how to react at first. He warmed into the hug and wrapped his arms around her. Words almost clawed passed his throat to make a sassy comment about her thankfulness, but he swallowed them down. The moment was too good to ruin. "You're welcome, Alaura. Anytime."

Echo IX watched as the two other guardians sprinted out of the room, leaving him and Tanis IV alone. He fixed the torn brown hood around his neck as his yellow eyes glanced up towards Tanis. Confusion fluttered around in his mind. Tanis was one of the smartest people in the group with so much potential, but didn't do too much with it. This guy could be doing so many more things with his life, yet here he was. Echo was the first to speak up, "I get you guys are a team, but why are you with them?"

"They're my friends." Tanis tilted his head to the side a bit in curiosity as he attempted to analyze Echo. He couldn't fathom the thought of leaving his fireteam. That would include abandoning The Traveler and Dinklebot. The Traveler might've tried to abandon them all, but he couldn't prove it when the ghosts were on the outside of this as well. Dinklebot was one of his closest friends, and almost had to fight Malachi for a close second. What kind of question is that? I've been with them since the beginning. There's no way I'm backing out now.

Echo shrugged. He stood up from his seat and stepped towards the other Exo. He put his hands out as he talked, a blue light emanating from inside his mouth, "We're friends too. Exos have to stick together."

The Warlock rubbed the back of his pale blue metal neck, but felt no releaf from his action. Why had he done that? Why did it feel so normal to do so? Ignoring Echo's comment, Tanis moved on to another topic. "Speaking of Exos...can you tell me more about us? I've read up as much as I could, but it still doesn't make sense to me."

The history was a very long and difficult one. He's been told it many times, but retaining all of the information was a fruitless task. Echo shook his head. "Man, my memory has been wiped way too many times for me to remember anything important like that."

That's possible? What? Tanis blinked rapidly as he attempted to comprehend what he just said. How does an Exo survive with its mind being wiped? Wouldn't it go insane? Would the mind break eventually? Exos are robots, but there had to be some kind of defect from so many clean slates. "Memory wipes? What are you talking about?"

"That's why my name is Echo IX. The number represents how many memory wipes I've undergone." He peered away and leaned against one of the tables in the room closest to Tanis. Thinking about what people have done to him would make him feel sick if he had a stomach. He shrugged it off, playing it cool, even though he felt otherwise. "My friends tell me it's for the better. I was going insane from my past."

The gears in Tanis' mind whirred and spun faster. I have a four in my name. What did they do to me? If Tanis could feel emotions, he'd be full of panic and fear. What did they do to me! Why did they wipe my memory so many times? What is my team hiding from me? Dinklebot watched as Tanis sunk into a chair. The thoughts he was having only made the ghost worried. Tanis asked out loud in a quiet tone, "And you remember nothing?"

"Nada. It's like waking up." Echo stopped himself from saying more. He tapped his fingers against the table and focused on the clinking sound it made. This wasn't his happiest discussion. Talking about it only made him feel more subconscious.

"You're okay with them doing that?"

Echo stayed quiet for the longest time, lost in his own contemplations. The answer had to come from his heart, or whatever he had. Exos had to stick together, and that meant being open with each other. "Truthfully? No. But if I was out of my mind, then they had no choice. I'd rather still be kicking than dying to end the pain."

Dinklebot bobbed around in the air and glanced around the room frantically. He noted all of the things Tanis could do as he intervened on the conversation, "You know what we need? We need to do something to get your minds off of this. What about another round of sparring?"

Tanis glanced towards the door his friends had left through. How could people that claim to be his friends do that to him? Why? Wasn't he allowed to know the truth? And why did Dinklebot try to change the conversation? Tanis replied in annoyance, "Not now, Dinklebot."

"Research?" The ghost questioned, not completely sure of his suggestion. It was imperative that Tanis moved on before he found out too much.

"Not in th-"

Dinklebot cut Tanis off, "We should really keep an eye on those Vex before they hit another-"

The Warlock spat out, "Dinklebot! What is wrong with you? Are you malfunctioning or something?"

The ghost looked Tanis up and down. He declared almost awkwardly, yet smoothly, "No. Just trying to help my guardian."

"I'd like to talk to Echo some more."

"Okay..." Dinklebot felt unsettled at how close Tanis was getting to the truth. Once that happens, what would he do? What would he think of them? Would he leave the fireteam? Leave his ghost? Abandon The Traveler, even though Tanis thinks that it abandoned him?

The possibilities were endless, and that's what scared Dinklebot the most.

AN: Sorry. Late upload! This one is much longer, so it makes up for it. Malachi's Arc aesthetic. I desperately need to fix some of these. I was such a newbie when I made some of these. XD