Darkness of one's Past

The gentle breeze of the wind, blowing through the grass and rubble of the EDZ. A cabal psion on guard, somewhat twitchy at any and all movement.

A piece of rubble falls. A head turns. A knife strikes.

The psion falls to the ground, departed, as Shimmer takes her sweet time retrieving her knife as Onyx and Xion converge on her.

"We're clear." Speck states, trembling slightly. "Phew… Do you always have to do things this way?"

"What way?" Shimmer wonders as Tavkar slides from his bird's nest, now certain the area was free of hostiles, trudging over a menagerie of cabal corpses. Shimmer observes the slaughter around her, Bullet casings as numerous as dead Cabal.

"I think I'd prefer it if all our missions didn't end in blood baths, firefights and environmental destruction I think." Xion pipes up, to which Shimmer waves a hand.

"Oh please- Our mission isn't over yet! Can't end in a bloodbath if this isn't the end, am I right Onyx?"

Onyx stares… Then shrugs.

"That's the spirit! Now c'mon- We gotta go deal with this… distress beacon, right? That's what we were here for?"

"Yes- Which I still haven't been able to decipher, seeing as how you decided we needed to leave, and I quote." Xion clears his throat- More a mocking gesture, seeing as the only fluid his body would ever produce would be… Oil? Even Xion didn't know. "Right now right now immediately c'mon I'm so BOOORED!"

Xion does his best impression of Shimmer, who crosses her arms and turns away.

"I didn't say that- I say we needed to leave because whoever was here was in deep shit!"

"And how could you tell if I have no idea who the message is from, or what it's saying?"

"You got 'distress signal' didn't you? That's good enough for me. Onward!" Shimmer leaves without a second thought as Tevkar follows. Xion grasps his shoulder, spurring a click from the Eliksni as Onyx approaches.

"Do you agree at all with how she does things? She seems…"

"Impulsive?" Tevkar responds, shaking his shoulder away from Xion. "Yes. Friendly, kind and the reason I'm even hear with the guardians to begin with?" Tevkar snickers, more chattering from them echoing throughout the area. "She may be rash, but she produces results. Would you not Gree, silent one?"

Onyx thinks, then gives a half nod, which transforms into a full nod. She was definitely less inclined to think before leaping, but… Maybe that was just what this group needed.

Tevkar, Onyx and Xion continue, Xion pulling out his ghost to decipher the message more in their down time exploring the Cabal base.

Eventually the trio found Shimmer to have run ahead, as she tended to do. Xion figured if she was in trouble, there would be an explosion… Or four. Currently there was none, and so he continued to decode, until…

"Okay, I've got it." Declared Fledge. "Lemme read it; 'Help. Cabal ship. Intel incorrect, need backup.' Sounds pretty dire…"

"We should move." Tevkar states, Xion and Onyx nodding as the pair rushed forwards.

"Did you get who sent it?" Xion wonders.

"Oh, right." Fledge looks through the data once again, when suddenly, a cabal warbeast came flying through a doorway! The gang stops, readying their weapons… Only to see Shimmer's face peek out from beyond the archway.

"Oh, there you are! Little fucker tried to bite my ankles, so I uh… Well did a lot more than bite its. Or bite it, in general- I stabbed it. A lot."

"It was… Unnecessary." Flicker comments, to which Shimmer shoos them away.

"Did I ask you? Eight stabs would've been excessive, which is why I stopped at 7. Perfectly reasonable." Shimmer sighs, then looks to her fireteam. "Oh, well now that you guys are all here- I found em! Or at least the place their in. Nothing on the scanners, so everyones dead!"

The room fell silent.

"Including our dude, too, probably. Hope they're a Guardian! Had to have been if I had to guess, I mean the whole place was already cleared out."

"Actually…" Xion starts. "We were just about to get their name."

"Yes… Looks like its a Umbra-17." Fledge states.

Shimmer puts a hand to her hip.

"Umbra…Seventeen?"

"...Yes?"

"Not sixteen or eighteen- Seventeen?"

"Is this a problem, Bright One?"

"Well maybe not for you. I, on the other hand…" Shimmer begins to walk away. "...Left something on my ship. A bigger gun, for an even bigger- ACK!"

Onyx's hand grasps at Shimmer cloak, pulling her alongside them as the two began to approach the door.

"Hey hey hey- watch the threads! I just got this tailored- Hey! Onyx?! Big boy?!"

Onyx's mind was made up- They were going to help, and so was Shimmer.

"...Tch. Titans…" Shimmer crosses her arms, allowing herself to be dragged across the floor.

--

After about 40 minutes of searching, with which Shimmer offered a dubious amount of help, Onyx managed to find an exo. Purple and black with… A bond? A warlock then, with a shaking, scared Ghost.

"I-is it safe?" The ghost wonders, to which Onyx nods.

"Y-yeah! Don't worry- We're here to help." Speck replies offering assistance in resurrecting the Exo.

Shimmer watches from far away, slipping behind some rubble to avoid sight.

Meanwhile, Tevkar and Xion approach… Umbra-17, a male exo warlock, in purple and black garbs. Void energy surrounds him as he stands, and he knocks his head a bit, jogging his memory and systems.

"Ah… I see, I've… Been indebted to all of you- Wait, Fallen!" Umbra readies a void covered fist. Onyx watches, seeing Tevkar and, in their forgetfulness, readying their weapon.

"Wait no! Stop!" Xion yells, putting himself between Tevkar and the two Exos. "Friendly! Friendly fallen!"

"Eliksni!" Tevkar shouts. Umbra tilts his head.

"You on our side?"

"Yes!" Tevkar assures, placing his wire rifle down. "I am Tevkar, of the House of Light!"

"...Oh, Mithrax huh?" Umbra dissipates the energy around his fist, and Onyx similarly decommissioned their weapon, slightly embarrassed.

"...So, then, who are the rest of you?" Umbra sits on some rubble. "I am Umbra-17- but you knew that much I assume!"

Xion, Tevkar and Onyx were… Pleasantly surprised. He seemed so well mannered, and kind… His voice had an air of compassion and heart to it, something rare amongst the cosmos.

The trio introduces themselves… Shimmer hiding still.

"...I count 2 guardians, and last I checked, the Vanguard didn't allow any fa- Erm, Eliksni into Fireteams."

"Yeah we got another- Though I don't quite know… Where she…" Xion looks around the room, only to spot a pair of pointy bits behind some debris. "...Hang on."

Xion meanders over to Shimmers hiding spot… And pulls on the horns of her hood.

"Scuse me!" Shimmer yells, annoyed.

"What, afraid of guests?"

"Guests? Please. If anything we're the guests and HE should-"

"Shimmer?"

The room fell silent. Shimmer sighs. The sound of metal grieves against rubble filled the room as she stood and faced Umbra.

"...Hi." She curtly greets Umbra.

"...My my, look at you! Had enough of the blue, I presume?"

"Oh good we're already presuming. My turn to presume then? I presume you decided 'hehehoho BIG space magic blast fix everything!' Am I right?"

"...Actually yes!"

"AGH I can NOT stand you!!" Shimmer throws her arms up into the air, much to the confusion of her team.

"Uhm- You two seem to ah… Haha, have some history!" Speck interrupts, Onyx nodding sagely.

"Oh yeah, we got plenty of it."

"Shimmer and I used to be mentor and student- I'm sure you can guess who was who?" Umbra chuckles.

"I dunno why you decided to try and teach a hunter the way you teach a warlock."

"I did nothing of the sort!" Umbra smiles, approaching Shimmer. "I taught her everything she knows about gunplay."

"And then I quickly outclassed you in every way."

"That she did!"

"GOD, FUCK, why are you so cheery about that?!"

"Is a teacher's greatest success not when his student surpasses him?"

"Maybe it would be, if you didn't leave me to almost get turned into a VEX!"

A bomb went off in the room- instead of it drowning out all noise however, Shimmers explosive words silenced the room entirely. She looked to her team, concern plastered across all their faces.

"Shimmer, I-" Xion reaches out a hand. "I had no idea- Are you-"

"Don't. Leave me alone- Having him hear that is bad enough!" Shimmer exclaims, quickly turning around to the window behind her. Not too far off the ground- Good, Shimmer breaks the glass with a shot of her hand cannon, then tumbles out the window, safely landing and making as much distance as she could.

Onyx, Xion and Tevkar turn to Umbra, with a face wrought with guilt. "I'll… Be taking my leave. Thank you for your help."

Umbra transmats to his ship shortly after, and Tevkar… Walks to the broken window.

"You gonna go see her?" Speck wonders, to which Tevkar nods.

"It is only right."

--

The sludge. A disgusting place, full of Taken and destroyed buildings, completely uninhabitable. Perfect for Shimmer and her thoughts… And the scrambling of one worried Eliksni.

"Go away Tev."

"No." The Eliksni refuses, approaching.

"...Sigh. If only I could threaten you like every other Guardian out there. If I accidentally stab you, thats it. No more Tev."

"Ah yes, my greatest advantage to your tricks. I, am mortal, and very easy to splatter across walls." Tevkar chuckles.

"...Hah. Yeah. Weird how the works huh?"

"May I?"

"...Go ahead. Not like I'm gonna stop you anyway, am I?" Shimmer scoots over, making room for Tevkar.

"No, you would not, kekekekeke."

The pair sat in silence for a long while, gazing at the taken thralls dancing below in the erratic warping.

"...Wonder what they feel."

"Hm?"

"The Taken. They used to be Hive. Cabal. Vex…" She takes a pause. "Eliksni."

Tevkar clicks his mandibles in thought. "I would imagine Taken feel… Nothing at all. No loyalties to the former self. Loyalty only, to Take."

"...Scary."

"Indeed."

"Scarier than death, I think. To have your body just made into a husk, to make more like it? ...Not as scary as… The other guys."

"The Vex, I presume?" Tevkar places a hand on Shimmer's shoulder. She pulls her legs into her chest, having to force one leg by hand as it twitched.

"Yeah. Failsafe, her crew… We found one of them a long time ago. Some of him was still in there."

Tevkar tilts his head. "You… Are serious?"

"One hundred percent. So… On that day, when Umbra and I went out to kill a vex mind…" She falls silent for a moment. Memories lost, memories implanted, emotions dulled she could barely feel them anymore.

"By the time he got to me, my leg was already gone. My mind felt cloudy, like someone or something else was re-wiring it. I… didn't feel scared. Or happy when it was done. Or mad that I thought he hadn't prepared me."

Shimmer frowns behind her helmet, averting her gaze away from Tevkar.

"It was like over the next few resets, I had to learn how to feel again. How to be me again, but… The resets made me forget who she was. Who Shimmer was."

"Shimmer is, here." Tevkar interrupts. "She is whoever you want her to be, yes?"

"...I guess so."

"Shimmer… Is bright one, for a reason. Bright like great machine's light, inside… And out."

Shimmer sits for a moment… Tevkar's air, his words, struck her. She nods, sniffling.

"Thanks Tev."