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Rex and his Ghost, Jay transmatted into the Cosmodrome while the sun was low in the sky. It was an easy trip up to the Fallen Ketch that looked over the place where Jay had first found Rex and resurrected him. As the pair looked over the rusting cars, listening to the wind blow against creaking, oxidizing metal, with only the eliksni shouts of House Dusk scavengers picking clean the bones of what was a mighty Earth establishment, both Hunter and Ghost decided that it must be a setting sun.
Loss seemed to characterize their recent missions. The specter of Cayde-6 still hung over everything. He’d been Hunter Vanguard for years, long before Rex had even been rezzed, and during the five years Rex knew him, he’d considered the Exo a close friend.
Then there was the entire situation with Neomuna, the Witness and the Veil. He still couldn’t get or figure out a straight answer as to what exactly happened to the Traveler, or hell, what the Veil even is, but it was clear that they had lost.
And then most recently, Amanda. He knew it was going to happen eventually. Guardians were immortal, and the shipwright was not. He just thought–no, hoped, if he was being honest–that it would happen in bed, with her pushing a ripe old age of ninety or a hundred and something or three hundred and something, however long human lifespans were now. Rex looked at his gloved hand in the dim light, realizing that he’d forgotten. Or never bothered to ask when he’d been rezzed. As a Lightbearer, was he really still human? What did it mean if he wasn’t?
A scream broke him out of his melancholy ponderings. High pitched, shrill, definitely not the Fallen raiders. They were definitely the cause of the scream, judging by the sounds of shock pistols splatting against old metal, but not its source. Had to be a child of some sort, a child in trouble.
Jay decompiled into his “backpack” as Rex unholstered Ace of Spades and began to scan the area. He wasn’t about to let someone else die if he could help it.
And then he spotted it. A woman and a child, what looked to be a young girl, cowering behind a rusted out car, while a warlock dressed in what Rex recognized as a customized version of one of Tess Everis’ more recent offerings was pinned down by a handful of dregs and vandals. Poor kinderguardian couldn’t have been more than a day or two old, judging by his weapons. The amount of Khovostov auto rifles and Stubborn Oak shotguns that were littered around the Cosmodrome for New Lights like this to find was just insane.
This new Guardian needed help, that was for sure, and just as quickly as Rex had taken in the situation, he leapt into action, sprinting forward across the deck of the ketch and leaping into the air.
“Eyes up, Guardian!”
He reached and pulled on the psychic web that connected all life, reaching into the new powers of the Darkness he’d found, flowing with the emerald strands and allowing them to carry him across space, swinging from a point in mid-air. Ending his arc above the Fallen, he flipped into a dive, sending a burst of entangling energy outward as he landed amidst the raiding party, suspending them in shimmering green threads.
As he flipped over the barricade the warlock had been taking cover behind, he reached for solar Light while the enemies were incapacitated.
“That’ll only hold them for a few minutes. Nice to meet you, blueberry. I’m Rex. My Ghost is Jay, but I try to keep him out of sight in combat.”
“His name is Ryo, not blueberry!” an angry ghost bobbed out from behind the warlock’s head. “And I’m Mouse.”
“Because of the–”
“Because of the cat helmet, yes.”
Ryo nodded the aforementioned helmet. “A woman named Tess contacted me not long after I… uh, came back to life? She said she had gear for Guardians, and I liked how this one looks…”
“Hey, it works for you. Doesn’t seem like your gun is. Love the Khovostov, but it’s not the best weapon out there.”
Ryo shook his head. “It just doesn’t feel right. I’m struggling to hit my targets.”
Mouse chimed in. “I told him that he might be able to get a bow. He’s Awoken, it might feel more natural. We have to get to the Tower first, but once we do…”
Rex grinned, hoping that his expression could still be understood from beneath his helmet. “Jay, see if you can’t pull that extra Verglas Curve from the vault. I was going to dismantle it, but I think I found a better use.”
The sleek, silver and wood bow only stayed in Rex’s hand for a moment as he tossed it to Ryo. “The Awoken Queen herself gave me an extra bow. See how it feels. Once we get these people to Shaw so he can get them to the Last City, I’ll introduce you.
The warlock caught the bow awkwardly, but once he held it, it was clear that there was a muscle memory there. He was used to bows, that was clear. But there wasn’t much time to test things out. The Fallen were pulling themselves free of the Strand energy Rex had entangled them in.
“Right. Let’s make some music. I call this one a “Cayde riff in Six”. Watch me for the changes, and have some fun, Guardian.”
Ryo and Mouse looked at him in confusion.
“It’s a… ah, you wouldn’t get it. Before your time. Shoot the bad guys!”
Ryo nodded. “Let me know if you get hurt! I can throw a grenade that heals!”
Rex nodded, then deftly dodged out from cover to flank the raiders, letting his Light infuse his and Ryo’s weapons as he did so, supercharging them. “You’re going to do great, Guardian.”
As the two Guardians brought the mother and daughter to Shaw Han’s camp, so he could coordinate their transport to the Last City, Rex noticed the sun was higher on the horizon. It was a sunrise after all. It didn’t make the loss go away, but it was a good reminder. He smiled, watching Ryo and Mouse chat with Shaw. Despite the loss, it was a new day in the Cosmodrome, and a new Light was rising to meet it.