THE SUMMARY OF LIGHTHAWK

MODE-2 GUARDIAN

Page.5

Cy wakes with a startled jump. The singe of fire almost fresh in his systems, and yet like a flash it's gone. Cy red lensed eyes blink and he looks to see a white circle machine staring back at him. At first, he's just concerned, fearful even, but then just confused. 
As the thing speaks to him, he's not sure who this is even is, or what it even is.
 Cy listens as he stands up, touching the hole that was once in his chest. 
All around him is overgrown rubble of the building that once stood some time ago.

Cy also notes a yellow robotic being pinned under the rubble. A bag on their hip. 
Curiously Cy moves to them and grabs the back, noting a booklet inside. 
Taking the booklet, Cy opens it, as he's spoken to by the little white circle orb machine. 

At first he has no clue what he is reading, but he tucks it away before following the tiny little white machine out of the collapsed building. 
Cy tries asking them who he is, or what even they are. 
But the machine cannot answer who he is.
They only tell him that he's chosen for great things and that they need to get to a place where the Traveler is. 

For Cy this all seems so strange, it almost feels wrong. 
So he grabs the booklet as he walks behind the ghost. 
Reading all while he follows them through the crumbled town and passed rusted cars. 
Within time though, Cy reads the booklet and puts together from the book let that the yellow robot was part of a rouge band lead by a leader named Mode-2. 
Cy puzzled by the tales of them chasing after powerful beings, and how they lost a member of their team. 
But, what struck Cy the most is when they he turns to a page where a old faded photo is taken. 
Cy can just barely make out the picture, but noticed the strange similarities to him and the robot in the photo. 
After resting under a roofing from the rain. The little white machine seems to digitize away. Leaving Cy to further read some more. This booklet written by the yellow exo tells of all of their adventures since breaking free from Clovis's lab. 
And Cy starts to believe that the booklet is talking about him in various parts. 

After looking at himself in a puddle for some time, that photo even helps cement this idea. 
Cy realizes that the man leading the team in the book is him, and that the little white machine helped revive those powerful enemies they were fighting to kill. 
Though he doesn't know the extent of these battles, Cy then starts his first distrust in the little white machine. 

When morning comes, Cy not only openly rejects the little machines advances and or conversations. Cy asks the little machine to tell him why they'd be helping bad people?
This questions stuns the ghost, not knowing where it even comes from. The ghost pridefully says they'd never help anyone that meant to do harm!
But, Cy doesn't believe it, and tells the ghost to leave. 

Though this is easier said than done. As the little circle ghost is stubborn, and insists that they come with him to the Traveler.
But again, Cy tells the ghost off. The two are at a conflict, with the ghost trying to convince Cy to come to the Traveler at the Last City. While Cy believes the ghost to be some sort of trick or at least a pawn of something worse trying to lure him in. 
He questions the fact he himself cannot remember his own past. 

At this point Cy is walking in whatever direction that isn't the one the ghost wants to go in.
And after several failed attempt to not only get rid of the ghost, physically by throwing them or trying to hit them away. Cy learns to ignore the little machine, Scavenging what he can to make a weapon and search out food. 

That is until a pack of Fallen cross Cy and start attacking him!
Cy ducks behind a rusted car. The ghost informs him of the race he has just encountered and that they are scavengers too, and enemies to the Traveler!
Cy doesn't care what they are, but knows that they are trying to kill him regardless. He blames the ghost for only making this worse by being at his side. 
But the ghost says that they would have attacked regardless since they hostile and in need of recourses.
Cy questions this though, since he doesn't trust the ghost. 
Regardless, Cy uses his keen intuition to fight. Ripping off the door of the car and using it like a shield. 
He has no problem taking out the smaller fallen scouts. 
Making his way closer to the Captain. His large form and already powerful body somewhat surprising himself in combat. He picks up one of the scouts spears, and without hesitation, hurls it at the Captain, taking them out as well.

The ghost is surprised by Cy's instincts to fight, but alas even when he compliments it, Cy stubbornly ignores them. 

"What will you do now?" Ask's the ghost, informing Cy that there will be more coming.
But Cy tells the ghost that he plans to find out who he is, and go back to where they ghost woke him up.
Yet the ghost doesn't agree with this, telling Cy they need to get to the Traveler. 
But again, Cy reminds the ghost, "I'm not following anyone anywhere that I don't trust."
Making it clear to the ghost that he was not going to this Traveler to become some glorious hero.

With the ghost having no choice but to stick by their guardians side. The further try to explain to Cy what their purpose is and why. 
But Cy stubbornly ignores or tells them they are a load of shit. 

Eventually Cy makes to a clearing they had crossed a few days ago. 
But upon crossing it now, Cy was met with more Fallen resistance! And this time, they had a Walker. Cy tried to avoid the conflict, but the Fallen had easily spotted him far before he had even neared the clearing. 
The planned attack was already on way. So Cy did what he always did, fight his way through. 
He again had no issues fighting them. And told the little ghost to stay out of his way. 
The Walker seemed to be the only problem though, as it blasted apart the cars he was using to hide behind and use as cover. 
Eventually Cy concluded he'd need to get closer, but even this was met with dangers.

As Cy fought the Fallen and used their own weapons against them, Cy was surprised that the Walker suddenly sent out a blast of energy that pushed him back!
It was a bump in the road though. Since Cy kept this in mind while taking up arms with the Captain of the hunting party. Eventually defeating and ripping the Captains arms off!
Cy would use the Captains own gun to take out the legs of the walker. And, once it was down, he climbed onto it began pulling parts out of it, however when it blasted him off again with another pulse of energy. Cy clashed with a rusted car and realized this thing wasn't going down soon enough. 
The ghost mentioned that Cy had powers he could use. 
That if he tried using them he could easily deal with the fallen machine. 
But Cy was stubborn, and didn't want to listen to the ghosts ideas of magic.

Cy tried again, and again, taking out another leg to drop the large machine before scrambling to get on and see if he could end this thing when the hood was opened. 
He knew he was doing something right since the machine was smoking and struggling more with each attempt, but as he got thrown off again, Cy stood to see a large Captain before him!
It almost got a surprise attack in on him, but Cy frustratedly focused on the large enemy.

This captain would prove to be much harder than the originally. 
And, even worse, he noticed the ship dropping more of these fallen creatures!
Cy did his best but in the end the Captain was proving to be to difficult to take on while the Walker tank was still up and firing at him. 

Cy ducked behind a rusted bus. When the ghost told him to use his powers, Cy for a moment considered it. He was in such a tight spot, with enemies starting to circle his position.
So Cy gave it a go, he did as the ghost said, but when nothing happened he cursed at them!
The ghost was a little surprise but said he just needed to focus more. 
Cy tried again, and this time there was a faint purple pulse of light, but it wasn't enough. Cy was growing increasingly frustrated!

The ghost realized that something was deeply wrong here.
Cy about to be attacked form all sides finally gave it one last attempt. 
And with success, a purple orb formed at his hands. 
Alas, it wasn't without it's problems. 
Cy would create a Titan Bubble, but it's size was massive compared to any Titans normal void bubble. 
It also pushed away everything, including the ground around Cy. 
This huge burst of energy shot all the enemies, walker, and debris far from his origin point. 
The massive purple dome lasted but a few 3 seconds before disappearing, leaving a giant crater in its stead. 
Cars and rocks thrown fore miles.

While Cy in the middle of the crater had lost his arm that he used to create the bubble. 
His legs were broken, and his body was badly damaged. Cy's ghost quickly re-appeared after the site of the uncontrolled bubble at first. 
About to resurrect the dead guardian, Cy's ghost was immediately hit with some strange red netting that zapped it completely unconscious. 
Just as this event took place, Gaul was mere moments from capturing the Traveler and shutting off the light for everyone. 

But for Cy, the Red Legion had other plans for the new light. 
Taking the main part of his body and the ghost. 
They'd ship Cy off for a pretty price out to the Tangle shore. Specially to a section where Guardians would be put in fighting rings. Those that weren't killed or useful to Gaul in any means. And the underworld that is the Tangled shore loved a good fighting between guardians and monstrosities. 

Eventually, the captors that bought Cy for this purpose allowed Cy's ghost to resurrect him.
But Cy would have no abilities after the Traveler was captured. Yet this didn't affect Cy much once he was back. He was more pissed off that he was now somewhere in the galaxy he wasn't familiar with and worse, caged up!
After Cy came to, it was clear to him by his captor that he'd be used for entertainment.
But what really surprised Cy even more was that fact the booklet in his coat pocket had survived the blast.
Some of the edges were burnt away, yet, he was thankful that he still had it to begin with. 
So Cy spent more nights reading about himself and the tales of others within it. 

During the day shifts in the Tangle shore, Cy would be pulled form his cell to fight some sort of beast. Either a cabal war beast, or a rouge fallen. Occasionally he was put against other guardians. None of which phased him, and he always came out the victor. 
In fact, there was a notable hate anytime Cy went against another guardian. 
Even after he would defeat them, anger spurred from within him that their death just wasn't enough to sate him.

Any robotic enemies he fought, he'd smuggle parts off them after the fight, and learn to fix himself up. Since no one was doing that for him, and he had planned on making an escape once he had the right time. He did all he could to upgrade his body in secrete. 
With Cy being such an entraining guardian for the masses that put hefty bets on his win. 
Cy earned himself the name of Guardian Killer, since that seemed to be his most successful pull in for the Battle Rings on the shore.  
Sadly his Fallen captor did not ever change their treatment against him. 
It meant nothing to Cy regardless, but sometimes the meals were a bit better. 

Eventually Cy was surprised to see that his captor had brought someone new to his cell. 
And to his own shock Cy listened to the visitors offer. The new Fallen Face requested that Cy become a sort of killer for hire.
The fallen Captain named Red Maw wanted to buy Cy as a means of protecting his ship from pirates and other guardians. 
Cy liked this idea, and so he listened. Though Cy's original captor at first wasn't to interested in letting his show pony go. Eventually a nice price convinced them. 

With that, Cy join the Fallen House of Loss and became a hired killer for them. 
His ghost at this point had willingly given up on convincing the guardian to go to the Traveler. Spending time with Cy had also mellowed out their ideal thought of Cy being a hero, and their own purpose to the Traveler. Cy would eventually show them the booklet, and the parts in which it sounded like the very thing he was, had taken from him. 
Yet the ghost was confused as to why other ghosts would be resurrecting such vile beings. 

The ghost also noted the dates of these writings, and seeing as they were as old as the first guardians. The ghost realized that Cy was very old, back when guardians used their light for not so good things. 
This had mended some of the wounds between Cy and his Ghost.
Though Cy would never willingly go to the Traveler, Cy now listened a little more to the ghost about their purpose, supposedly. 
But then, Cy even wondered, why would the ghost resurrect someone like him who willingly killed past guardians. 

These answered were out of their reach, even his ghost admitted he had no idea in the end. 

Either way, Cy's ghost was mortified that Cy continued to kill other guardians, but in some cases, the ghost also noted that there were some really bad Guardians out there. Ones not using their light for good. As Cy would time and time again defend the Fallen House of Loss from being mindlessly attacked by guardians. At this point Ghaul had been defeated, and so with guardians having their powers back. It made it all the more challenging for Cy, but he kept up pretty well. 
The Fallen House of Loss cherished what Cy had to offer in means of protection. 
Though many feared him since he was a guardian. 

Eventually Cy would ask the Fallen Captain of the House to help him fit in. Since Cy didn't like seeing how the fallen looked at him with fear. 
And The Fallen Captain agreed, he'd help Cy become more than just machine. 
First The fallen Captain gave guy a set of upgrades that would help in his ability to climb along the ship as the Fallen do. 
He also gave Cy upgrades for additional arms. 
Cy having worn a brownish robe with a hood now sported a taller form with his newly added digitigrade legs and 4 arms.
With all these new upgrades he scratched off the 2 in Mode-2 on his chest plate, and put a 3.
Seeing this as a growth.

Yet, the Fallen Captain said that he could not help the language barrier between them. 
So Cy found his own way to communicate, and with all this scrap metal and loose ends.
Cy was allowed to use what was left over. 

He'd make his very first instrument. Since the Fallen House of Loss is very in tune with sound and music. Cy worked hard on making a guitar like instrument to show his feeling through, rather than try and speak to the rest of the Fallen Directly. 
It was hard and subtle at first, but eventually, the Fallen came to understand. 

So for the first time in a long time, aside form his duties, Cy started to find peace and contentment in this life. He even found a love interest in a Fallen female warrior among the ship. 
He no longer lingered in the shadows while the Fallen enjoyed drinks and meals, but joined them instead. 
And yet, all this to would come crashing down. 
As The Fallen House of Loss's ship came to a stop at earth, a fire broke out while they were scavenging. This fire would cause panic among those outside the ship. 
Many fallen had to retreat. This was no regular fire, it was a wild fire. 
Cy abandoned his duty to protect them against hostiles, but instead was determined to save all he could from the flames.
In one attempt, Cy tried to race out to grab a mother and her hatchling, but he would be to late. 
As a tree crumbled down just over her. 

Cy though, finally had the first moment of fear from loss overwhelm him in that moment. 
The fear of watching someone he cared for be taken away, again.
Yet, his powers came through, and at the last moment. A bubble of purple voided energy surrounded the mother and her hatchlings. 
The tree would crumble on top of it, and the dome would disappear. 
Cy was happy that he saved them.

But in the end, this lead to a hard decision that the Fallen Captain of Loss would have to make.
After years of Cy's services to protect. Cy would be banished from the Fallen House of Loss. 
It was not a banishment made by the people though, but by the Captain himself. 
He told Cy, "You are becoming who you were always meant to be. I cannot stop that, and those that would see you here would think you a traitor more so. It is time to take your place among those like you."

This struck Cy hard as a betrayal, but he understood. He knew he was running from his purpose, as it was always brought up at some point, when would he become a true guardian. 
 The Captain of Loss did not want to see Cy draw unwanted attention to his people by having this rouge powerful guardian, and he didn't want his own people to shun him at first site. 

Though it was hard for Cy, he was left behind. 
He would set up camp in the forest of Earth, able to see the Traveler from a distance, but with anger in his heart, he never went. 

~3/18/24