Prolog: Transmigration- Eyes up Guardian

[Pale Heart- Old earth apartments]

Spark was back, and boy was she chatty. She was ecstatic as apparently the Traveler was able to have conversations with us simultaneously. Perks of being a god like force of the universe I guess. 

I finally picked myself up and made my way outside. Looking ahead to the Titan sitting on the ground I smirked. Having taught the kid before he went on his grand adventures I had a soft spot for him. 

"Hey kid!" My voice startled him as he was leaned against a tree zoned out. With a sigh after his flinch he said, "Old man, how did it go?"

I chuckled as I felt a weight lifted from me I didn't know I held on to. 

"It will take some time, but i can wield them now." I said. "Alright then old man, Time to bring you in."

I chuckled into a full blown laugh. He was a bit confused but I can say I wasn't the greatest at goodbyes. Spark phased into existence next to me as I said, "Key us up Spark."

A fun little backdoor into "everything". Turns out when you have centuries of time you can learn a lot. I happen to put a "Few" backdoors into all the comms made by the vanguard.

"I always wanted to use this!" I could hear her excited muttering. And as we made the first connection they fell like dominos. Every comm that used vanguard tech was under our control in seconds. 

"This Is Guardian Argus. Some of you may know me as simply Instructor. I am happy to announce my... retirement, from the Vanguard. Got a bit of a job offer you see. The Traveler needs me to do something far, far away. To those of you who were kind. Who were able to learn from me. To those I fought in battle with... I thank you."

A smile graced my face as I continued, "I've had a long life here. A lot of it was bad, but the moments where those of you who were with me, it kept me going. And to the Guardian..."

I looked at the stunned Exo watching all of this go down. A swirl of light and dark circled me as I was finishing up. 

"Kid, No. Ray... Keep on shining. Sol needs a few heroes going about around here."

The transmission was cut off as the energies became a pillar surrounding me. Light and Dark in harmony were used to touch upon the depths of my soul. I felt it. A tiny seed sat next to a different power. While I may have not been able to feel it before, I could feel it now. I could see what she meant by being similar to an Ahamkara. 

It was no wish magic, but it was pure paracausal energy. And it responded to the unsaid question asked of the Traveler. And so I was off. Shooting through an iridescent portal with no cares in the world remaining. 

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[The H.E.L.M- Vanguard orbital HQ]

The bridge was silent. A pillar of Light and Dark Escaped the Traveler at relativistic Speeds. The Transmission had just ended. A Guardian, Silent in his service to humanity was gone. Gone to the unknown. 

Zavalla stood at the glass window of the bridge. His arm's crossed as he looked on. He closed his eyes as the light of the Traveler shone as bright as ever. 

Crow was by a screen freaking out as he and other personnel were trying to determine how the entire Vanguard communications network was compromised in a single moment. A magnificent feat of hacking not seen in a few centuries. 

Defeated he leaned back in his chair and sighed out loud, "How did he do it? I've looked into everything but couldn't find a single thing except a coded message?"

Shaxx was leaning on a pillar to the side asked, "What's it say?"

"Glint is deciphering it now, should have it in a moment." He responded to the Titan. Mara Sov walked onto the bridge as he finished speaking. 

"So any news on this Rouge lightless?" she started with a smirk. As the members of the Vanguard command responded in various ways. Some groaned out loud others were muttering profanities. 

Glint, Crow's Ghost spoke up from his shoulder saying, "The Cipher was a rather simple one. The message says, "Ha ha, ha haha... Hahaha ha... Ha." he paused for dramatic effect as the message told him to and continued, "ha... For the greedy loot goblins I know you all are, you are gonna need a few Warlocks to find my stash. You will find I have hidden it all. All of my treasure. In The one Piece!"

Silence rang from the enthusiastic reading. Crow was the one to break it as he said, "And what the hell does that mean?"

A cough drew the attention of nearly everyone in the command deck. They found themselves looking to Mara who had just joined them. While a certain Titan was looking any which way but her's, She turned her head and muttered, "it's a reference."

Crow seeing his sister covering her embarrassment, pressed on with a curious tone, "And how do you know this sister?" 

She immediately threw another under a metaphorical train. "Why don't we ask Shaxx?" And so the heads turned to the normally very boisterous Titan who was inching his way out the room.

Fixing himself, "Ahem, its a book reference. One he recommended to myself." 

"And the Contents of this "Book"?" Ikora chimed in with a face bordering a laugh at the Titan's expense. 

"Argus had rewritten a few stories he found out in the ruins. A popular series he had wrote about was known as One piece." He elaborated. Barely scratching the surface of what it actually was. 

But another was there and ready it seemed, Osiris was already invested in a puzzle So he looked it up. 

With a scoff he said, "Its a children's tale. It even uses pictures in it's story telling." 

Only to feel the glares of two very powerful individuals after he finished speaking. 

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[???]

Soaked. The first feeling that was present after my "landing". Really took that ODST thing seriously. As much as joking around in this situation helped out I planted an arm and raised my upper body. 

As I began to come more into my senses I felt the texture of mud and water in my gloves. After we were lifted off from the universe Spark made the executive decision to reequip my armor. And what a good decision it was. 

Deciding to say fuck it I raised myself into a sitting position sliding a bit on the muddy ground as I propped myself up.

"Spark?" I called out. She phased next to me and scanned me. A healing light filled me as my regeneration kicked in. It was slow but steady. A welcomed addition in our survival kit. Before we just had to either "Reset" or get a doc. Glad I didn't need to die today.

"How you feeling?" She asked. I drew a breath through my nose and said, "Better than ever."

"Well, Eyes up Guardian. I've got movement couple hundred meters out. Displaying on your HUD." She phased back into my backpack. With a Sigh I patted my right thigh. the holster to my hand cannon popped out from the armor. 

Grabbing the weapon I made to stand up. Pain, an old friend at this point shot through me. But I worked through it. 

I was mudded all over as I made to stand. I stumbled a bit and had to stabilize myself on a tree. I made my first good look around. Following my own advice for wilderness survival. 

S.T.O.P.

Stop where you are. Take inventory. Observe your surroundings. Prioritize.

I recognized the terrain as a swamp. The wetlands were foggy and little light shown through the canopy of trees. Most of the wood was rotted. My heads up display showed my ammunition was green for now. As well as the motion sensor.

"Right, where to Spark?" Trusting my partner to have had a good look as we fell.

"Sadly... we need to go north."

"And let me guess, the pings on the tracker are from the north, aren't they?"

"Yup!" with a bitter chuckle I say, "Just like old times right?"

The giggle in my ear was enough of a response. I began my walk forward. Alien planet here we come!"

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My regeneration was slow going, but it allowed me to finally move at a decent pace. At least decent considering I was moving through swamps of mud and water.

Still felt my ribs were sore from the landing,1/10 star review would not want to do again.

At first my motion sensors were picking up something ahead, only to find out they were owls and other birds. Still kept my eyes pealed for anything bigger. 

And my wish was granted. As I passed a deeper portion of the swamp a figure lunged from it out at me all of a sudden. 

My reaction was fast but not enough as the figure grabbed onto my arm and bit down. 

My gauntlets did well to resist the attack but It had an incredible bite force and wasn't letting go.

It's face wasn't visible in the dark forest haze, It took the chance while I was struggling with it to attempt to drag me into the water. 

Since It held onto my right arm I kicked out at the legs of the thing. With no leverage to drag me anymore I lifted the thing up by it's biting maw and slammed it into the ground. 

It let go of my arm as it screeched in pain. I stomped my boot into it, denying it's escape and with my left arm I slammed into It's face multiple times. 

Breathing heavily I saw that it stopped moving, but to make sure I grabbed the fallen hand cannon off the ground and fired a shot into the head of the creature. 

It expanded into a gory mess. The void hand cannon did well to end the threat. 

"Spark, get a scan of this thing." I breathed a sigh as I calmed my mind. Whatever thing this was it was dead now.

Spark got to work immediately. after a few passes with her scanner she said, "Unidentified lifeform, Subject has severely deteriorated tissue, It's sharp teeth and claws signify it eats meat. Lifeform seems to be adapted to living under water, most likely non-sentient based on observed behavior."

She paused as she rescanned the obliterated head of the creature, "Subject's head suggests there was a prevalent mass that has since been destroyed due to your hand cannon. Could have some research value if we find another."

"I'll keep it in mind, anything else?" Getting my breath steady as I looked at my arm. The metal parts were fine on the vambrace, but some tearing was present in the cloth parts. 

"There is an unknown energy present in this creature, I'll do some research into this energy but no promises."

"Fine by me." I began to walk, no time like the present. 

Found one more on our little trek through the swamps. They were classified by spark as an ambush predator after that one. Thing burst from behind a reed bush of the swamps. 

Was ready for him though, a quick two shots from a hand cannon will sear holes the size of golf balls in the things as it turns out. 

When the swamps began to recede to solid ground I was all for it. I may not have been wet and cold or anything in my armor, the feeling of wet mud and muck was... undesirable. 

 "Bout how far till we see anything?" I asked. Planning my next moves out since it was getting real dark.

"Not to long now, we should clear the wood line soon. If there is anything ahead, well know then." 

And right she was as when we cleared the woods a small village came into view. Deciding it to be prudent I phased my helmet and most of the armor. No need to look completely suspicious. 

I tapped onto the projector of the bond to turn it off and continued forwards. I could see figures moving in the dark to their homes. Off the bat I could tell they were humans, so a plus there. But I saw only primitive sources of light and tools around as I continued into the Village. 

It reminded me of when I had just arose. Timeless memories of a far simpler time. Where Guns and food were currency. Luxuries were a scarce thing in those days.

The bigger of the buildings in the Village caught my eye as I looked about. The candle light shown through the windows as people were gathered inside. 

A tavern, a recognizable sight anywhere. Spark phased into my backpack as I made it into the actual village. I got some looks as I walked through as most of the people here were farmers. A stranger coming from out of nowhere was "Odd" to them.

As I neared the door to the tavern the sound of people talking caught my ear. Thankfully they were speaking a variation of English it seemed. Older but still very close to what I know.

Pressing on I entered the tavern.