Destcember Day 6: In The Vanguard

Destcember Day #3: A Long Shadow

Humanity stands like a young sapling in an old forest. We have so much potential to grow large and prosper. We were on our way even before the Traveler ushered in the Golden Age. With just a little room and a bit of time, we could have been something great. But it was not to be, because we started our journey late. We were not in some bright clearing or field. No, we exist in the long shadow of the old races. The Hive came and blotted out our Light with their Darkness. It was so easy too, for they have enjoyed the benefits of maturity and age for billions of years before our little star even began to form, let alone our race. So, here in the shade of the old and the Darkness, we are left with two choices.

We can allow ourselves to wilt away into dust and rot, just a minor footnote in the logs of the Hive. It would be so easy. If we just stopped fighting, they would gladly wipe us without a shred of hesitation or remorse. If we were lucky, some of us might be taken by the Cabal as oddities or a new client race. Maybe some would survive the purge for a time, huddled together in the cold until nature runs its course or they find themselves at the end of a scout's gun. Our spark would go out and be forgotten in the shade. However, we have never chosen the easy path.

In order for a sapling to prosper, the old growth must be cut away. The old trees must be chopped away and cut down to size. Only then can the light pierce through the dark. Only then can the weak and the young begin to grow.

So take up your Light and your guns and wield them like an axe. Cut and cut and cut until the rivers run brown with the sap of the old trees. Cut until the Dark is no more than an old story that we tell our children. Cut until there is nothing left between you and the Sky. Today they may cast a long shadow, but tomorrow they will cast a shadow no longer.

Among kinderguardians, it is almost a right of passage to get your own sticky grenade stuck to your hand. In fact, there is a somewhat secret betting pool in the Tower for how long until it happens to each new guardian. The longer a kinderguardian goes without it happening, the larger the betting pool grows. The current record is two weeks.

Down with blade barrage and down with the Last Word quest step 2.

Destcember Day 13: Enemies of Humanity

Humanity has more enemies than it should. If at all possible, we should try to negotiate with them. This isn't an option for all of our enemies, of course. The Vex have no place for us in their Pattern. To the Hive and Taken, the very idea of peace would be blasphemous. The Scorn have been corrupted by the Darkness, and even if they hadn't been, killing all of their leaders in a quest for revenge has probably made us permanent enemies. Some of our enemies, though, I think that we can reason with. Under Calus, we would be able to join the Cabal in their empire, or, since I doubt most of humanity would be on board for that, at least ally with them against the Darkness. The Eliksni are our best bet for an alliance. Everything they they want is reasonable. They want a new home on Earth and their Great Machine back, both of which we could share. We even have an alliance with some of them already, such as Veriks and the Spider. They are quite good people once you get to know them and they hate the Darkness as much as us. If we could have any of our enemies as a friend, I think it would be them.

Destcember Day 25: Gift

It took me all year, but I've managed to find the perfect Dawning gift for everyone and today is the day I give them all out. I start in the Tower and work outward. For Ikora, I got a new bond. I had an amazing tailor in the City modify one of Cayde's old capes that I found in one of his caches. For Amanda, I got a new set of wrenches and engine that I salvaged from a Fallen skiff. For Banshee, I got a new gun repair kit and several interesting Dark Age guns from the Drifter. I gave the Drifter a few pieces of the Vex's Black Heart that I have been saving to research, since he is so interested in the Darkness, and a few cookies. I just met Ada recently, so all I could think to get her was as many of the pages from her book as I could reclaim from the Scourge Syndicate. I had gotten Eris a new wrap for eyes, but I guess that it will have to wait until I find her.

From there, I went out into the rest of the system. For Devrim, I got an assortment of rare teas from the City and the Reef. For Asher, I got him a sleeve for his human arm and metal polish mixed with a slight anaesthetic for his Vex arm. I also got him the core of Panoptes, which I managed to take before the simulation collapsed. Hopefully it will help with his research on a cure for his corruption. For the Spider, I found a number of the most ancient and interesting human artifacts that I could find and an intact ghost shell that I bought off the black market in the City. For Mithrax, I got the mantle of a Kell, in hopes that he will grow into it. I got Petra a fance eyepatch, a brand new knife, and panoramic picture of Mara's throne world. For Mara, and as a favor to Lord Shaxx, I brought her the bow that Shaxx bought her and his note, I found her several books of Shakespeare, including a new copy of the Tempest, and gave her my personal promise to do everything within my power to protect her reborn brother.

Finally, and most importantly, I made a brand new shell for Yew. That one was probably the most difficult one of all. To make sure that it would be a surprise, I convinced her to go on several tedious errands, taking messages for me all across the City and Tower. While she was gone, I payed Ada a small fortune in Glimmer, Shards, and favors in order to forge a nearly indistructable shell shielded by fine Black Armory metal. Then, I convinced Tess to help me make the shell aesthetically perfect and suited to Yew's tastes. It was more than worth all of the effort and cost to see her expression and happiness when I gave it to her.

I love the Dawning.

Destcember Day #8: Alternate Universe

Two friends sit talking on top of a skyscraper that just reaches well above the clouds. Below them sprawls a gleaming metropolis that extends as far as the eye can see. The sky is clear and bright, without a hint of smog or rain. Overall, it is a beautiful day on Venus.

"You ever feel like something is missing?"

"What do you you mean? We literally have everything. Ever since the Traveler showed up a few millennia ago, things have just gotten better and better. We colonized every planet in the system and a few beyond, we solved scarcity, and now no one has to work anymore if they don't want to. Hell, we even cured death a while back. I mean, there was that thing with those evil pyramid things a few decades ago, but we sorted them out pretty quickly, with all the warning the Traveler gave us and all the time we had to prepare. What could possibly be wrong?"

"I don't know. It all just feels anticlimactic, you know?"

...

Simulation #540608849333807 Results:

Processing Power Required For Simulation: High

Paracausal Interference: Extreme

Accuracy: Within Acceptable Range

Premise: Golden Age collapse averted via failure of Darkness to locate Traveler before overwhelming force was accumulated.

Outcome: Convergence rendered unobtainable before heat death of the universe due to excessive presence of Light based paracausal interference and high level of human technological progress.

Timeline Deemed Nonviable

Simulation #540608849333807 Terminated

Destcember Day 5: Black and White

So many guardians see our fight against our enemies in black and white. We are the heroes, dauntless knights fighting endlessly against the forces of evil, who long only to destroy us solely for the furtherment of evil. But things are never that simple. Every one of our enemies has their own stories and reasons to take up arms against us. The Cabal who so recently destroyed us are merely foot soldiers in a vast empire, knowing not why they attack, just following the orders that were passed down to them from a chain of command that they have no authority to even question. The Vex are fighting against the inevitable, for ever trying to stave of the heat death of the universe, warping time, space, and causality in service to their salvation, their "Pattern". The Fallen are lost nomads, with no home to call their own, their homeworld destroyed by the Darkness that we fight so hard against. Now they chase after their Great Machine, hoping, just like us, for the chance to reclaim their golden age. The Scorn have been corrupted by a force greater than them, using the Darkness in an attempt to free themselves from their dependence on Either and Servitors and to bring back those they lose to the deaths that we so often inflict upon them. The Hive and Taken, servants of the very Darkness itself, have their reasons as well. The Hive are slaves of their own free will, eternally killing and destroying to feed their worms, lest they be consumed themselves. They only chose this path for themselves after being in dire straits, with their choices being to take the worms into themselves and serve the Worm Gods, or have their species wiped out by an approaching disaster. Now they fight to survive, to bring the universe to its "final shape" and live forever by becoming death. The Taken, perhaps most pitiful of all, have no will of their own, being puppets to a will greater than their own, often being forced to fight against their former allies and kill those they once called friend. Even the Darkness may have a reason for their actions, though even I doubt that. To each of them we are the boogeymen, immortal monsters that can slaughter their way through hundreds of valiant warriors, with terrible powers of scorching light and weapons that have been known to kill even gods, before dying, only to return seconds later as if nothing ever happened. So, next time you begin to think in black and white, consider what I have said today and what your enemies think of you.

Destcember Day 21: High Stakes

"Hey Ash."

"Yes?"

"I've been meaning to ask you. Where did you get that Fallen mantle that you're always wearing?"

"Oh, I got it from a high stakes on a Fallen Captain."

"Come on, you can't leave me with that. Tell me the whole story."

"Fine, but you have to promise not to tell anyone about this, alright?"

"I promise."

"So do you remember a while back when I helped an Eliksni Captain named Mithrax fight of a Hive Knight and he left me the reactor he was going after as thanks?"

"I do."

"I felt bad about taking the reactor that he needed so badly, so I search around and managed to find an alternative one. It wasn't nearly as good, but it was enough to get myself in his good graces. Since then, whenever I have fought any Eliksni and found extra either on them, I take it to Mithrax and his crew. I have managed to bring quite a lot. He has grown somewhat since we first met, probably from that extra either, and as thanks for my help, he gave me this mantle that he outgrew."

" ...You know that if the Vanguard found out about this, they would probably call it treason, right?"

"I do. That's why I said it is a gamble."

Destcember Day 12: Last Man Standing

A warlock stands in his friend's apartment, dreading having to ask for his advice. Although his friend is less academically inclined, he is no less passionate in his work. Asking him for advice will inevitably lead to a two hour lecture including several charts, but what must be done must be done. Apparently, these thoughts dragged out long enough for the silence to become awkward, so the titan takes the initiative and breaks the ice.

"So Ash, what brings you here? Usually you just call when you want to chat, so it must be important."

"Well, you know that I never got a Recluse."

"Really, I could have sworn you had one by now."

"Nope. Furthermore, no amount of bribery will get anyone with one to give me theirs. I can hold my own in the Crucible, but not well enough to convince Shaxx that I deserve his ultimate weapon. So Buloke, what I'm asking is can you give me some tips on the Crucible."

With this the Striker's eyes literally spark with excitement. He sprints out of the room only to return several seconds later with a corkboard covered in in pictures, thumbtacks, and enough red yarn to knit a sweater.

"I'm so glad that you finally asked! The current meta is quite complicated, so I'll start with the basics. You are going to want to bring a shotgun. There are a couple choices, but I prefer the Last Man Standing for its perks. You see..."

As Buloke begins his rant, Ash finally starts to realize what it is like to be on the other end of one of his manic speeches about his research. Although he is grateful to his friend, both for so easily agreeing to help him and for so frequently listening when he got in a similar state, as the lesson just finishes with the shotgun tips at around the half hour mark, a part of him begins to regret every decision that he has ever made.

"That gun had better be as good as they say it is," he mutters internally.

It would be nice if in a future update we got some lore about Banshee's past. I'm pretty curious to know what circumstance led him to having his memory reset 44 times, more than double the limit that Clovis Bray estimated for safely rebooting an Exo. Lore about Banshee could also tell us more about the live of an Exo, which would be neat. Personally, Exos are my favorite playable race, so any lore about them is always appreciated.