Till It's Over (A Destiny 2 Story)

Epilogue - I Can Still Recall

There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain

All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

In My Life – The Beatles

-

July 24, 2957, 17:24; The Last City, Earth

Snow had finally fallen on the Last City. It dusted everything, masking the soot and oil with fresh white. Ice crystals glittered in the afternoon sunlight and blew in twisting patterns over the concrete. Winter had never been Veera's favorite season, but she had to admit the visual appeal of it. The snow brightened everything. She found herself in good cheer despite the cold.

It was a stroke of luck, really, that the weather hadn't turned a few days earlier- in the City the precipitation had been light, but several of the mountain passes were now buried under feet of powder. It would have made life very difficult indeed for the assault teams. As it was now, it only served to transform the once-depressing view of the City into one of dazzling splendor. The snow wouldn't be staying here for long. The Sun, winter-weak as it was, would soon melt everything away. This was just a preview of the cold season in the southern hemisphere.

Veera found Azra on the Wall, appreciating the view. Surprisingly, the Hunter was on the inside railing, looking over the City, not the wilderness outside. She seemed to be contemplating rather than brooding, at least. Her Light shone steady and strong.

Veera lugged the case she was carrying the last few meters (it was a lot heavier than it looked, but Veera's pride demanded she actually handle it rather than let her Ghost transmat it in). She set it down with a sigh of relief and leaned on the stone next to Azra. The chill air turned both of their breaths to fog. The Warlock hoped the weather would warm for just a few days more- there were still many people sleeping outside. She was sure nobody would freeze, but it couldn't be pleasant spending nights out in the snow.

"I was surprised to learn you had returned to the City so soon," Veera said in greeting. It had been days since she'd gotten anything more than a text message from Azra. The Hunter had been running almost non-stop, ferrying stranded Guardians and Civilians back and forth across the System.

She didn't look too tired, smiling lightly back at Veera as they made eye contact. "There's an inquiry on how the sensor systems failed the night we were attacked," Azra explained. "Dunno why Zavala thought I'd be a good consult on it, but he called me in."

"From my talks with him, he was very impressed with your work on the comms system in the EDZ," Veera said.

"Hawthorne was half of that," Azra said dismissively. "I just helped with the fine-tuning."

Veera sighed to herself, knowing she'd never get the Hunter to accept the praise. "So.. what was your conclusion?"

Azra's smile vanished. "It was... weird." She tapped a finger restlessly on the railing and shrugged. "I've been out helping reset a few critical relays, recent. They're all still there, it's just like they... turned off. Logs showing shutdown 'cause of a communication timeout, but days after the City fell." Her expression darkened. "Whatever made them fail, I don't think it was the Cabal. I don't think the Cabal even knew about it."

"Bad luck?" Veera asked. "It is difficult to believe the Red Legion attacked coincidentally when we were having a sensor blackout."

Azra gestured helplessly. "What can disrupt communication between us and only a specific subset of our satellites without physically touching either or leaving detectable traces?" Veera did not have an answer for that. The Hunter just shrugged again. "There's so much out there we don't know about. I've got no idea what caused this. They're putting in backup relays but I'm not sure it will actually prevent this from happening again."