Chapter Text
It’s raining over the Last City in a light drizzle. The Tower’s plaza is sparsely populated because of it. Veronica doesn’t mind rain. She finds it quite pleasant actually. She enjoys listening to, and watching it. What she doesn’t enjoy is the mud it leaves behind. Sure, mud is great for tracking targets in a forest. But it gets on everything and is annoying to clean. Especially on a cape.
Veronica had been picked up from the EDZ and arrived at the Tower just over an hour ago. A military transport ship came to pick her up, City-Hawk 519, since she still hasn’t received a new ship of her own yet. Her old jump ship had been destroyed in the first battle of the Red War. Jump Ships are difficult to construct, especially considering the damages to the City’s industry. It will still be some time before she has her own ship again.
After her arrival, Veronica went through her post-mission routine. Which starts with dropping off used elemental batteries to the Gunsmiths booth to be recharged and put back into rotation. New resources are difficult to come by, so recycling is mandatory. The person behind the booth quickly replaced the spent energy batteries with charged ones, and Veronica reloaded all her magazines with the ammo dispensers just beside the counter. She stopped at a Vault access terminal nearby and stored her ammo and weapons away.
The next stop is at the Armorers booth. Veronica handed over her damaged chest plate for repairs, and requested a new helmet. Veronica may be an immortal super soldier, but that doesn’t negate the need for armor when stepping into a war zone. Armor is much easier to produce than Jump Ships, so her new gear will show up in her Vault good as new before the hour is over.
The Gunsmith and Armorer booths are just stalls in the Towers Plaza meant to provide easy access to their services. The actual workshops and machinery where the work is done, are deeper in the Tower, with a great many staff. The Tower Workshops take up the majority of the space in the Tower. There’s also the Cryptarch Labs, Vehicle Workshop attached to the hanger, and the Vanguard Research Labs.
If Veronica were going back out in the field immediately, like she so often does, she would make a few more stops in the Tower. Mainly a mission board and the CIC. But she has plans with her Case Manager today. So instead she returned to her dorm to shower and dawn civilian clothing. She took her time with a simple meal in the cafeteria, before heading to the Tower Offices.
Veronica arrives at the Tower Offices main entrance a few minutes before her appointment is scheduled. The entrance is under a canopy on the back side of the Tower Plaza. If you continue walking under the canopy you’ll eventually reach the hanger.
The Tower Offices are just as they sound. All the non-military desk jobs are housed in this section of the tower. From logistics likes cafeteria food, basic office supplies, and materials for the many workshops, to the scheduling of the janitor Frame-robots, and more, is all handled here.
Including the Case Managers. Guardian Case Managers are a service made specifically for Guardians. Guardians live a long time, go on lots of missions, participate in community projects, learn many skills, among other things. Its an abundance of information that all needs to be organized. A Case Manager handles a database of this information, for several Guardians at a time. Case Managers utilize this information to care for their Guardians well being.
If a Guardian wants to explore a branch of learning, military or otherwise, their Case Manager will give them the resources to explore that branch. Case Managers are also exceptional at helping Guardians mingle with civilians. Immortals often find it difficult to mingle with mortals, due to their fragile and generational nature. A Case Managers act like a bridge between the two worlds. Finally a Case Manager is the first person expected to understand the health of a Guardian and their Ghost. If they need help, it is the Case Managers responsibility to get them that help.
Instead of heading inside to a waiting room, Veronica opts to pass the final minutes before her appointment by looking through the Vanguard mission board, displayed on a holographic monitor right outside. Anything to avoid her case manager a little longer. A tactic she employees often.
The Vanguard mission board lists the wide variety of missions ordered by Tower Command. Each listing can be expanded to show its available time frame, any prerequisites, and how to complete the mission. There’s a few of these boards spread around the Tower.
Mission is a general term, there are categories of missions that help to organize the importance of the task. On the board, a plethora of Patrols, Bounties, Missions, and even a few Strikes are listed. The board lists missions that are in progress as well.
Patrols and Bounties are low risk, low effort tasks that can be completed at the Guardians own pace. They typically include gathering a specific resource, collecting data, scouting, or search and destroy objectives. Patrols are local, and open to the Military and even some licensed militia groups to complete as well as Guardians. Bounties could take place anywhere off world, and are limited to Guardians for that reason. Anyone can make a request for a Patrol or Bounty. The only requirement to get accepted is if they’re reasonable and worth the time of a Guardian or Military forces.
Missions are more serious militaristic operations. With briefings, plans, coordination with mission control, etc. Missions can share objectives with bounties or patrols, the difference is the danger and importance of the task. The assassination Veronica completed earlier today was a Mission. Its a common Mission type. Another common Mission is escort duty, where a guardian protects an outgoing group of workers. Typically to collect salvage.
Strikes are high risk, high import versions of Missions. They typically involve going deep into enemy territory to steal information, assassinate leaders, or rescue allies. They’re less common and take a lot of preparation for a fast paced mission.
Missions and Strikes are restricted to Guardians. Of course the Military can be called upon to provide aid, but they’re mostly left to their own missions.
On another window, the active Raids can be seen. Raids are the most dangerous tasks that Guardians can undertake. Raids are quite rare, and always a milestone to be recorded in history books. Both for their insurmountable odds and unmeasurable importance. There’s two Raids currently in progress, they both have loose ongoing objectives. Veronica doesn’t need to look at them on the mission board to recite their details word for word.
The nearby door opened, and out came Veronicas Case Manager, fetching her instead of waiting for her to arrive. “Hey there Veronica.” Veronica adopts a resting neutral expression.
“Hello Tony.” Veronica replied, turning away from the board. Tony has a soft face, which combined with his short stature and relaxed body language, makes him seem nice, and trustworthy. His casual business attire helps too. Though Veronica wouldn’t describe him as such. Tony walks up beside Veronica, looking at the board.
“Anything catch your eye?”
“Yes.” Veronica points out a mission on the board. “Upcoming Mission on IO. Bait and bleed operation. Requires at least six Guardians, attempting to force a large planetary war between the local Vex and Cabal, to ware them both down. The last two Bait and Bleed operations we Guardians performed failed. I’d love to participate in that Mission and turn our luck around.”
Tony nods. “What about your fireteam? Where are they at?”
“Maxwell is on an escort mission in the Cosmodrome. Large salvage operation, its scheduled to return home next week.” Veronica points out the ongoing mission, then goes to switch to the Raid window, but hesitates. Only when Tony turns to face her and starts to open his mouth does she move again. She selects the window and points out one of the two large info cards. “Nicole is on the Dreadnaught. Search and destroy.”
“Ok.” Tony looks at Veronicas face, studying it. “Lets head inside, and sit down.”
“Of course.” Veronica replies simply. Tony watches her a few more moments before leading them into the offices, past a receptionist, down a hall, and into his personal office. On the opposite wall of the door is a window letting natural light in. The ceiling light is off, leaving the only artificial light in the room to a lamp on the desk. The window faces outside the city walls, showing fields of grass mingled with young growing forests. The window is multiple feet thick, made with reinforced glass. This whole side of the tower is heavily armored with many layers of concrete, metal, and ceramic. Probably more than what’s necessary. But after what happened to the last Tower, the Vanguard aren’t taking any chances.
There’s a desk against the left wall, taking up the middle of the room, with a lounge chair on either side. There’s a couple bookcases and a filing cabinet on the right side. The entire room is decorated with little knick knacks and occasional photos of people important to Tony. There’s even fairy lights hung up on the ceiling. But not so much decoration to overwhelm someone.
Tony takes a seat behind his desk, with nothing in front of him to block his view. Veronica sits in the other chair, crossing her legs and looking at the back of a framed photo on the corner of his desk. Benjamin materializes next to Veronica. He and Tony exchange greetings.
“So Veronica, you went on your second Mission since the Red War five months ago. First mission in three months. How’d it go?” Tony asked. Veronica resists rolling her eyes and keeps her gaze down. She knows that he read the mission report, as her Case Manager he’s privy to that sort of information and he’s always utilized that privilege in the past.
“It was successful. Benjamin and I stopped a key Fallen target in the EDZ region from growing his power and becoming a threat to the City. It took longer than I would’ve liked.” Veronica admitted.
“Right, it took seven days right? Must’ve seen a lot of combat then?” Tony asked. And Veronica sneered, letting out a noise of disgust.
“No. I was in a snipers nest for seven days, waiting. There was barely any combat, and even then it was elementary.” Veronica leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms and legs. “Any Defender rank Guardian could have handled it. In fact Defenders were there, in other sniper nests. I wasted all that time, on a job someone lower than me could’ve done. I should be going on Strikes, and Raids.” Veronica exclaimed with an angry tone.
“Its true,” Benjamin spoke up, “Veronica could handle it. Her skills are still just as sharp as ever. Our recent mission proved it.”
Tony’s face fell slowly. “That’s not the issue Veronica. You know that. You haven’t recovered yet. If you start going on dangerous missions again, you’ll be a liability to your teammates.” He said gravely. “And you Benjamin, should not encourage her like that. Plus, you don’t have a good frame of reference from before the war.” He took a breath and leaned forward, interlocking his hands and placing them on the desk.
“Veronica have you considered a different line of work like I asked? I know you’ve taken a few classes from Cryptarch’s in the past. Is that something you’re interested in continuing? We always need more, you know.”
Veronica sighs. “No. I haven’t. My place is on the front lines. Not in a workshop, not in a factory, not in library or anywhere else.” She says quietly.
Tony taps his desk a couple times. “You can’t be on the front lines until you heal. If you want to keep helping the last city till then, you need to find some other way. If you won’t find another line of work, another way to help the best you can, then I will.” Veronica looked up at him, curious at his intention.
“Veronica,” He started sternly. “you are to become a mentor and teach a three month old Guardian everything you know. This Young Light was reborn naturally as a Hunter. Zahn, the headmaster of the academy, speaks highly of her. He’s requested you specifically to take her under your wing.”
“What? Why?” Veronica blurts out.
“You’ll have to ask him. I think its a good idea. This girl is part of the newest generation of Guardians, you’ve been around since before the battle of Six Fronts. Nobody has doubt that you can teach her a lot. Probably more than the Guardian centric academy will teach her in some aspects.”
Veronicas mind started to race with what this new responsibility would mean. Transitioning from a battlefield to a classroom environment. Working with delicate paper and pens, instead of hardened metal rifles or armor. And it would take up so much of Veronicas time. She’ll never be able to help the City or Tower again. Or at least not for a few years. An academy was built specifically to train Guardians how to be Guardians. They don’t need her for this.
Just as Veronica opened her mouth to protest again, Tony slammed a book down on the desk silencing her. A frown on his face.
“I don’t want to hear it again. I know your combat skills are invaluable. I know you don’t like staying still. And that’s too damn bad. We’ve been having this conversation for three months now. You. Will. At. Least. Try.” He pushed the book forward and relaxed. “Here’s a book about Mentoring, written by Zavala some 30 years ago. It goes over what’s expected of you and your student, how the process works on the paperwork side of things, the programs history, etc. Read it. Capiche?”
Veronica sighs and takes the book. “Fine.” She states, and looks downward at the book, hiding her own frown.
“Thank you… Now, you missed your last therapy session because of your mission. After your next one this week, you, your Ghost, and I will all head over to the Academy to meet Zhan and your new student. Then your mentoring will begin. You know how to contact me if you have any questions, comments or concerns.” Veronica began to speak before Tony interrupted her. “You not wanting to mentor is not a concern.”
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"Can you believe him? What a bitch!” Veronica curses. Now that she and Benjamin are back in the safety of their own dorm, she can express herself freely. Which includes kicking her flimsy metal trashcan clean across the room, spreading trash across the floor and denting the can. The mentor guide book was promptly thrown next.
Guardian dorms are a part of the tower. Meant to provide Guardians with a pleasant home close to where they’re needed most. They consist of 3 rooms, a bedroom, a bathroom, and the third room doubles as the living room and kitchen. In the tower, every square foot of space counts. More luxurious housing can be rented or bought in the City.
Not every room can be near the outside of the tower for a window view, like the Case Manager offices are. To make up for this, the dorms have windows into the connecting hallways which are decorated with colorful vegetation. Mostly flowers, but a few trees are being grown in larger hallways. However most of the plants are hardly poking out of their grow beds, as just like the rest of the Tower, they’re new. So not much to look at yet.
Veronica’s dorm, is in a word, bland. She hasn’t put up many decorations or personal items of her own since moving in, leaving blank walls and clear surfaces. There’s some framed pictures in the living room, of fellow Guardians and their Ghosts. A drum set sits in the corner of the living room, covered in dust. The kitchen is decorated with magnets on the fridge, and stickers on the cabinets. Benjamin is responsible for those. Fairy lights are loosely hung up in the bedroom.
There’s a piece of furniture resembling a large cat tree in the living room. With cubicles, tunnels, pillows, and stuffed animals. Its decorated nicely with streamers, a small flower print curtain over one of the entrances, and little knick knacks. The whole dorm belongs to both Veronica and Benjamin, but this is Benjamin's own personal bedroom.
Otherwise, the dorm came with a large flat screen tv, which is currently cycling through recovered landscape photos from the Golden Age. Along with basic furniture and kitchen appliances.
“Veronica, what’s so wrong about becoming a mentor?” Ben asked, floating near the ceiling.
“I don’t have mentoring skills, It won’t go well. So it will be a waste of time. My time is too valuable for this detour.” Veronica yelled. Its a good thing the walls are thick, designed to provide some protection in case of an attack, otherwise her neighbors would hear her yelling. Veronica started pacing back and fourth in front of the couch, running her hands through her hair as she lets out a heavy breath.
“Where’d you leave your stress ball? You need it.” Ben asked, turning on his search light and going around the room. Ben got them a potted plant a couple months ago. It didn’t last long.
“I don’t need that shit, I’m a Mythic Guardian. I’m fine.” She lied, taking up a stance and starting to shadow box. Every motion is precise, turning her joints at the right degrees at the right times for the optimal amount of time to deliver devastating attacks.
These attacks are centered around delivering power instead of endurance. A luxury Guardians have over regular soldiers. Soldiers need to preserve their endurance for long battles, but Guardians can be easily revitalized by their Ghosts. Restoring energy, and removing muscle strain. Allowing Guardians to push their bodies far more drastically without the draw backs.
Ben sighs, locating the ball in the bedroom. He teleported it to just above Veronica head, bouncing off it softly. Veronica caught it as it came into her view. “I said-“
“Just humor me.” Ben interrupted, floating up to Veronica. Reluctantly, Veronica started squeezing the ball and resumed pacing. “We should really talk about mentoring. At the least you should try, if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. While I didn’t agree with Tony’s tone. He was right that you should find something else to do until you can fight again. You could become a master of engineering and design anti-ship weapons. Or a rocket engineer, build satellites that won’t be destroyed so easily like during the Red War. There’s so many other ways you can help.”
“I can fight. I am a warrior, a protector, who is unwavering, unstoppable. A Guardian, a member of the Reef Royal Guard. Period.” Veronica stated.
Ben sighed internally. Veronica and her thick skull. Ben could feel his own frustration rising. “Tony was right in another way. This conversation has been had with you a dozen times over. You never listen.” His Guardian just scoffed in reply. “Veronica you need to accept that you’re unwell, that you need help. You can’t keep going on like this. There’s so many professions that never encounter the Darkness, yo-“
“Shut up.” Veronica interrupted, her words cold. “I do not fear the Darkness. I have butchered servants of the Darkness. I have held back armies, and helped to slay Gods.” She stopped and turned to Ben. “A warrior of that caliber does not feel fear, and they most certainly do not become crippled.” Veronica’s voice dripped with poison in that last sentence. Ben faltered under her gaze. Which is his final straw.
“God damn it Veronica.” Ben exclaimed in anger. “Look at how much time and energy you’re wasting. With your anger, refusal to do anything else. You’ve picked up every bad habit imaginable. You’re wasting away. Even worse. YOU’RE HARMING THE CITY WITH YOUR IGNORANCE.” Ben yelled.
Regret flooded through his shell and core immediately. He looked back up at Veronica. She was clutching her left arm tight, its fingers twitching. Her face is wound in anger, gritting her teeth, glaring, though Benjamin doesn’t think she’s glaring at him. Tears are rolling down her face. She turns away, as if meeting Ben’s gaze was painful.
“Veronica, I didn’t mean that.” Ben says, softly, moving closer to Veronica. But she steps away, and heads towards the door. “Veronica.“ Ben calls out again, but she isn’t listening. She leaves into the hallway, careful not to slam the door and cause a scene. Leaving Ben behind in their apartment. He could follow her, but that hasn’t done any good before. So he turns on the television and swaps through the channels until he finds a music channel.
In the presence of classical music, Ben turns off the lights and floats into his bedroom. He buries himself in his soft pillows, shutting the curtain behind him. ”How is it all going so wrong?” He mutters, letting out the equivalent of a sob. “Jevin, I miss you. So bad.” The sobs continued for a spell, until Ben powered down, the equivalent of sleep for Ghosts.
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Veronica sped through the dorm wing of the tower back towards the Plaza. It was getting late in the evening, rush hour time for Guardians, as several are returning from their day long missions. Veronica recognized all of them and their Ghosts that flew over their shoulders. But Veronica didn’t spot any of her friends. And she isn’t interested in conversation with acquaintances right now. So she ignored them and went for a Vault access terminal.
Vaults are a personal storage that each Guardian has. Guardians typically store armor, weapons, and personal materials in them. Using transmatting technology, items can be put into, or pulled out of a Vault easily without physically accessing it. Its essentially teleportation. To access a Vault and transmat its contents, there are special terminals called Access Terminals. Ghosts can also perform this action on their own. Unlike the previous tower, these access terminals are littered practically everywhere. In every section and hallway. To ensure a Guardian can always gear up in case of an emergency. The Towers workshops can also send items directly to a Guardians Vault. Like making a delivery into someone’s mailbox.
Veronica opted to use an access terminal in the Plaza, instead of one of the several access terminals in the dorm wing, because of the relaxed atmosphere of the wing. Putting on armor down there will raise concern to any onlookers.
The Armorer workshop came through. Veronica found her replacement helmet and repaired chest plate in her Vault. She selected they be taken out, and they promptly appeared in the sliding box under the terminal. Veronica dawned her armor and started looking through her weapons.
But, she is without her Ghost. She shouldn’t travel outside walls to engage in battle, if something goes wrong and she is killed…Veronica would never be revived. Veronica let out a sigh. She wants to calm down, relax, go back out tomorrow with a clear head. So what else can she do to calm down? Maxwell isn’t in town. There’s civilian entertainment. Movies and bowling alleys. But alone? That’s not fun at all. Sexual release with a one night stand? Veronica physically cringed that last idea. She sighed again and muttered aloud, “Drinking or shooting?” Those being Veronicas go-to activities while alone.
“Why not both?” A semi deep voice asked. Veronica turned to see Sixer, a Human and fellow Guardian. He’s still outfitted in his Wildwood Hunter gear, dirty from a long day of action in the field. On his back rests a Scout Rifle, and a Sidearm at his hip. In his hand is a six pack of beer. Sixer smiles. “What do you say we head out to the forest and have a little… target practice?”
Veronica smiled. “Now that sounds like a good plan.” She selected her Hakke Halfdan-D auto rifle, and Mercurial Overreach sniper rifle to appear. She slung both around her back, and filled her vest with plenty of ammo. Sixer noticed. Ghosts can store ammo and weapons in the same mysterious space they disappear to when they’re not present. Meaning Guardians have to carry very little of their own in battle.
“Klein not joining us tonight?” Sixer asked.
“No, Benjamin, is… staying home for some alone time. Is Nike with you?” Nike being Sixer’s Ghost, appeared upon being mentioned. He has a deep seaweed colored shell with extra lights. A Bankjar Shell.
He spoke with a robotic accent. “Yes. Someone has to keep an eye on you too. Drinking and shooting? You two are insane.” He said roughly. Although he made no moves to stop the two Guardians. He could transmat them to somewhere else, or put their gear into their vaults, but he isn’t doing anything.
“Good to see you too Nike.” Veronica replied and turned to Sixer. “Your ship have two seats?”
“Nope. But don’t worry, we’re taking sparrows. We’ll be far enough out in the forest so our gunshots won’t set off any alarms, and close enough to receive aid quickly if needed. Come on, no more delay, lets go.” He turned and started walking to the other side of the Plaza, towards the elevators. Nike dematerialized and Veronica started after them.
Before long they arrived in the ground vehicle bay at the base of the Tower. The ground vehicle bay hardly sees foot traffic, so its sparsely decorated. Plain concrete walls and repetitive rows of pillars make up the majority of the architecture. To break up the boring gray, is a plethora of parked ground hover vehicles.
There's a public repair garage offshoot on the side of the vehicle bay. For guardians to tinker on their sparrows personally, instead of sending it to the Vehicle Workshop. On the backside of the bay near the elevators is a common area, for the stationed army soldiers guarding the bay. The most interesting part of this whole vehicle bay is the large armory spanning the length of the room. Its stock full of weapons ranging from scout rifles to crew-served machine guns. With an abundance of ammo.
Should anyone invade the City with ground forces, armories like this are scattered all around the wall to make said invasions very costly, if not impossible, for the enemy.
Just like how hand held gear can be stored in a Guardians Vault, so can their Sparrow. Sparrows, being Guardians standard issue personal hovercraft. They’re designed to be sleek, providing great speed and maneuverability. Plus their ability to hover gives them the ability to traverse just about any terrain. For these reasons Sparrows are considered a Guardians best ground based vehicle. Guardian combat and general movement strategy is centered around speed and momentum.
Sparrows are incredibly easy to manufacture, even after the Red War. Every Guardian has one. However the mass majority were lost in the Red War, and the new ones are still plain models. Guardians can have their Sparrows outfitted with additional components to improve its strengths, or add new ones. This would be done by engineers in the Vehicle Workshop. The Tower Workshops are overworked and can’t see to every Sparrow.
Since Sparrows are the only ground vehicle Guardians need consistently, the majority of the vehicle bay is used to house special situation vehicles. Mainly army vehicles. Tanks, armored personal carriers, and self propelled anti-aircraft guns, to name a few. The army vehicles are closely monitored and rarely deployed. Guardians rarely engage in battles where those vehicles would benefit them more than hinder them.
Veronica and Sixer passed Frame security robots and army soldiers guarding the garage as they transmatted their sparrows from the corresponding terminal. The soldiers opened one of the garage doors allowing the two Guardians and one Ghost to drive outside the walls.
The immediate area surrounding the main City Walls is a short in length man made plateau. There's bastions like you’d find on a star fortress extending from the plateau about every 45 meters. They hold heavy machine guns and large cannons aimed at the fields below. In between each bastion is a ramp leading down to the ground.
“Repairs are going well looks like.” Sixer observed as they came off the nearest ramp. A lot of damage was suffered in the Red War. Factories, homes, entire city blocks ruined. These defenses were no different. Bastions were flattened by the Cabal drop pods, and the fields covered in craters from what little fighting went on here between cabal tanks and brave soldiers who stayed in their fortifications.
“Indeed. Defenses are top priority for reconstruction effort and resource allocation, after warm housing.” Nike replied over the radio. “Most of the wall and its ground defenses have been repaired, but the majority of the defense repairs and expansion has gone towards space faring threats.”
“I saw some of the new anti-ship cannons going up last week.” Veronica commented. “They’re big, and tons of new radar equipment. I also heard the Future War Cult want to setup a military base on the moon. For early warning equipment and heavy weaponry.”
“With all the Hive up there? Pfftt, fat chance.” Sixer remarked. The two guardians kept speeding through the field, slowing down once they reached the treeline. “Although, if they supplied me with weaponry, I’d happily become a long term security guard for that base.” Sixer chuckled.
“Of course you’d do it for the weapons.” Veronica remarked humorously.
“Oh don’t try and tell you wouldn’t do the same.” Sixer shot back. “You’d go nuts over their sniper rifle, the Chosen. You get a gun like that and I’m not gonna see you outside a snipers nest for years.”
“As if, I’m already chosen. I don’t ne-“ Veronica faltered and let out a grunt. “Urgh, when can we start drinking?”
“Calm down. Our spot is just up ahead ‘chosen one’. “ Veronica rolled her eyes.
They drove into the forest, going deeper until they found the remains of an overgrown bunker. The bunker was blown apart years ago, based on the amount of vegetation growing over it now. The floor and parts of its front wall remain, but everything else is missing, evidentially blown to bits because of the loose concrete chunks and scorch marks. The surrounding area was clear save for a fire pit.
The rain had thinned out during the drive, barely raining at this point. The sun was setting, its final rays shining in between the trees.
Veronica and Sixer disembarked their sparrows, walking into the clearing. “This is one of my favorite spots.” Sixer said. “I don’t know when we put a bunker here, but its scenic. And safe.” Sixer added. “There's no Cabal, Fallen, or Hive this close on this side of the wall. Military patrols ensure it. So we’re going to drink.” He head up the case of beer. “And when we finish a bottle, we’re going to toss it up and the other person will shoot it.”
Veronica huffed. “We only get three shots? I brought three-hundred-fifty rounds of ammo.”
“Ey I wouldn’t do you wrong like that.” Sixer defended himself. “I brought twelve beers, and an extra thirty-three bottles. We’ll drink as much as we like and shoot empty bottles too.”
Veronica frowned. Still not as much shooting as she was hoping to do tonight, but maybe that for the better. Drinking without your Ghost leaves a Guardian vulnerable to getting drunk. “Fine, pass a beer already.” Sixer gave Veronica a temperate beer. It tasted cheap, but Veronica wasn’t going to complain about everything tonight. She took a long swig.
Sixer started a fire in the firepit, using his knife on his metal arm armor to start a spark. They repositioned their sparrows to sit around the fire. Nike materialized the other beer and empty bottles near the Guardians. Sixer opened his own beer as they settled into conversation.
“Should we be shooting these bottles? Recycling is mandatory after all.” Veronica remarked.
“I checked, and apparently the recycling process is different for each color of glass. So yes we can shoot them, because the City can’t recycle green glass.” Sixer muttered under his breath, “Until the recycling plant is fully repaired.”
“Oh good.” Veronica stood, grabbing an empty bottle. “Ready? Go long.” And she chucked it high into the forest. Sixer rushed to pull out his sidearm and fired five shots, nailing the bottle on the last one. He frowned at Veronica.
“No I wasn’t ready, thanks for the- heads up!“ He exclaimed and throw a bottle into the air. Veronica picked up her auto rifle and fired an eleven round burst, barely blasting the bottle in time before it disappeared into the darkness of the forest. “That's pay back bitch.” Sixer said with a humorous tone.
Veronica set her rifle down and took another swig of beer, ignoring his comment. “Hey, where's your fireteam at?”
“You mean the good guys?” Sixer asked. “Tragus and Winter are helping supplement the police force, again. For almost this whole week they said they were working on some big case, as if they’re detectives.” He paused and took a drink. “I had to go out with a different fireteam today. Matchstick.”
Veronica groaned. “Aren’t there better things a Guardian could do with their time? We have actual detectives for detective work.”
“Oh sure, because we’re being sooo productive.” Sixer retorted.
“Ugh whatever. Matchstick is fun.” Veronica said, recalling the Guardian fireteam. “Their infatuation with demolitions is contagious.”
Sixer chuckled. “Oh you should’ve seen the Cabal ship we blew up. The colors of explosion was legendary. The mix of our explosives, tied with the fuel and magazine combusting, awe it was lovely.” Sixer looked off into the sky, recalling the sight. “Hey, where's your fireteam? They at home with K- uh Benjamin?”
“They’re both away on long term missions, left me on my lonesome.” Veronica picked up her Halfdan auto rifle. “Throw me a bottle.” Sixer delivered, tossing a bottle heading into the forest with a spin. The shattering of the glass was heard after Veronicas first shot.
“Psh, show off.”
“You’d know.”
The two Guardians kept chatting, drinking, and shooting for a while. Telling stories of battles and embarrassing moments about their fellow fireteam members. Nike joined in conversation too. Veronica eventually succumb to the influence of the alcohol, growing sluggish and tired. She stopped trying to shoot bottles. Sixer stayed at a simple buzz thanks to Nike, alcohol is removed from the body when a Ghost heals their Guardian. Removing all its side effects.
“Its bullshit.” Veronica stated. “I’m not a baby sitter.” Veronica had moved to sit against Sixers sparrow, which Sixer was sitting on. That way she wouldn’t have to worry about raising her voice.
“So then what are you?” Sixer asked, nursing his fifth beer. Veronica repositioned to hug her legs.
“A warrior, proud and strong. Like you. Like your fireteam. Like Matchstick. Like Maxwell.”
“Eh, if you say so. But I wouldn’t describe you like that.” Veronica craned her neck backwards to look up at him. Sixer tensed when he realized what he just said. “Uh, well, come on Veronica, you’re…” But he remained silent.
“I’m what, Sixer?” Veronica pressed.
“Nope. I’m good. I’ll keep that to myself. But if I had to say something, I’d say you’re uptight. What are these roles you’re assigning? Guardians are so much more than one thing, we are immortal, the universe is our sandbox. We’re soldiers and engineers, cooks, musicians, we’re, well you get the idea. Giving us one title just doesn’t make any sense. Because it can’t summarize all that we are.”
Veronica lowered her head back down to look at the fire. It was small now, going to fizzle out soon. She looked at it for a while silently, before weakly saying, “You’re a bitch.”
“Pfft oh loosen up, isn’t that why you came out here to drink?” He sighed. “We should get going soon. Its midnight, temperature is dropping fast, and I’m not sleeping in the cold.”
“…Fine, but I can’t… Drive.” Veronica barely managed to speak. Tiredness starting to take over.
“You’ll ride with me, so get up. Nike will teleport your sparrow back to the Tower.”
Sixer took a moment to clean up the space, grabbing the remaining beer and bottles. Veronica tried to help but just tripped and didn’t get back up until Sixer pulled her up. Soon they were both riding out of the forest on Sixers sparrow, Veronica holding his waist. Veronica watched the trees and empty fields in the moonlight, it was peaceful and beautiful. It reminded Veronica of Nicole, the Warlock in her fireteam. Veronica hated the reminder. She didn’t want to ruin the night by thinking about her.
They made it back to the Tower, Sixer helped Veronica up the elevator and put her weapons and ammo in her vault. Finally he took her to her dorm, where Benjamin was resting in his cubby. The trashcan and book had been picked up, the only remaining evidence of Veronica’s outburst being the dent in the side of the trash can. Sixer put Veronica down on her bed while Nike woke Benjamin.
Nike recalled what happened to Ben, just so he’d know why Veronica was horrendously drunk. He made sure to emphasize that they were totally safe, and that Veronica was unharmed. Ben thanked them for bringing her back and wished them goodnight as they left. Leaving him alone with a very drunk Veronica.
Veronica lay on her bed in her armor, not quite asleep yet. Ben sighed, feeling guilty. His words earlier only made her feel worse, which is probably what caused her to get drunk. Ben doesn’t like drunk Veronica. She's quiet, and he never knows what she's thinking.
Ben transmatted her armor away to her Vault. Revealing the civilian clothes she was wearing when she left. “Veronica, you gotta get under the covers.” He said quietly. Veronica stirred, looking around as if just now realizing where she was.
“Ben? Is that you?”
“Yeah Veronica I’m here. Sixer and Nike just dropped you off. You have to get some rest.” Veronica kicked the sheets almost clean on the bed and rested her head on a pillow, curling in on herself away from Ben. Ben’s core just about broke at the sight. Curling in on herself is a bad sign for Veronica.
Ben pulled the blankets up and turned off the fairy lights. “Goodnight Veronica, I’ll be in my cubby if you need anything.” Ben said while floating over the bed. Veronica didn’t reply.
Its days like these that Ben wonders if they should’ve bonded in the first place, after they lost their Guardian and Ghost respectfully. Just like those other days, he dashed the thought away and went to rest himself.