From Dusk to Dust (Destiny Fan Fiction)

19-Borderline Insanity

The battle had been won.

But the war was long from over.

The battle itself was gruesome. All three sides, Vex, Hive, and humanity's safety net fought for victory. Many soldiers on all sides perished. Buildings exploded. Bullet shells hit the ground. Blood and Vex goo slathered the environment around the bodies. Tanis and Malachi barely hung on, but with Echo IX's help, they sailed to victory.

The Vex stopped advancing after a while. The Hive retreated shortly after. One of their ships crashed into the Earth on the other side of the city, and they began digging into the ground near it to create caves. More than half of the city's population managed to escape alive. There would have been more survivors if Alaura didn't run off, or at least that's what Malachi mulled over.

Echo IX took the remaining Exos to safety once the fight was over. They fought valiantly the entire time, not hesitating even once. For a bunch of robots, they sure knew how to handle guns like professionals, almost as if it were a second nature to them. Echo IX said he'd meet up with the guardians later, but never specified when. Malachi couldn't care less on when that would be. The Exo was another helping hand, but he was someone cold. Distant. Someone Malachi knew all too well because he used to be like that. The similarities were all too great.

Malachi yanked his knife out of a Vex minotaur's eye, brushing off the glass that came with it. He exhaled loudly as his heart rate declined slowly. Sweat dripped off his brow, and he took off his helmet just to wipe it. The strong aroma of gooey liquid, smoke, and blood came over his sense of smell like a tidal wave. Malachi cringed as he put his helmet back on and made his way over dead bodies on his way to Tanis.

Tanis stared up at The Traveler with wonder. The Exo craned his neck back far, yet it didn't pain him. "What do you think happened?" He asked his ghost.

Dinklebot materialized in front of him. "The Traveler has gone silent. I'm not sure what happened."

Tanis finally looked down from the orb in the sky and glanced around at the buildings. I need more answers. "Is there somewhere we can learn more about The Traveler?"

"There's a library down this street, but good luck finding things that aren't charred from the blasts."

Malachi rushed over once he heard what they were discussing over comms. He yanked his helmet off quickly, and instantly shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight. "Where are you going?"

Tanis hoisted his scout rifle over his shoulder and dusted some dirt off of his cloak. He took his helmet off and let Dinklebot dematerialize it with ease. "To study more abou-"

Malachi cut him off with a motion of his hand. "We have to wait for Alaura where she can find us." That was a priority. He hated that she left. Hated that she risked her life when Malachi could've done it. He didn't want to lose another person. The pain would be too great for him to handle and the guilt would seep in.

Tanis scoffed, "We could be waiting hours, or even days." All that wasted time sitting around, when he could be learning! Imagine all of the knowledge stored away at the library. Hundreds of years of studying The Traveler, right at his finger tips. Tanis wanted to learn more about himself, and this was a great place to start.

"That doesn't matter. We scavenge what we can, then come back here where the jumpship is." Malachi peered up at the sky and watched some clouds roll by. His gut twisted in worry. "If she isn't back by tomorrow, we're going to go look for her."

"Look for her? We don't even know where to start." Tanis wanted to grimace, but his features wouldn't allow him to. All he could do was show the frustration through his tone. "So we sit here and do nothing?"