[quote]Check out all other Brave Light episodes [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/176320409/0/0]right here[/url]![/quote] [i]The Three guardians are on board the shuttle, currently en route to the Moon. Janus is briefing them on the mission.[/i] [b]Janus[/b]: Guardians. I trust that Liz has already informed you of our observations and the Hive activity, so I'll just get right to it. We have the coordinates of Fireteam Apex's last known location. It's being transmitted from a Fallen beacon where the team made contact with the Hive cell. It was shortly after that they dropped off the grid. Your mission, Guardians, is to get to those coordinates, find the beacon, and figure out where the group went. [i]The three were silent.[/i] [b]Hayden[/b]: Wait a minute, woah there. You're just expecting us to just follow some yellow brick road, all the way to their position? [b]Janus[/b]: Shouldn't be too difficult. Your team has a tracker among its ranks. As I understand it, he has a large amount of experience.... "out in the wild", as they say. [i]Hayden and Liz look at Zale.[/i] [b]Hayden[/b]: You're joking. [b]Zale[/b]: What's wrong, Fat Stanley? Cat got your tongue? [b]Hayden[/b]: I don't mean to burst your bubble of all-knowing wisdom, but this guy couldn't follow a Cryptology lesson if it was about his favorite brand of butter knives. What makes you think– [b]Janus[/b]: His academic skills are hardly a concern. Besides, what better way to find the Tower's enemies than through one who was raised by them? [b]Liz[/b]: ........... [b]Hayden[/b]: ........... [b]Zale[/b]: ........umm........ [b]Janus[/b]: You didn't tell them, did you? [b]Zale[/b]: Nope. [b]Hayden[/b]: WHAT?! Hold the phone, lemme get this straight. You. A human guardian. Raised by Hive?! [b]Zale[/b]: Fallen, actually. Or Eliksni, if you wanna get technical. [b]Hayden[/b]: No offense, but the last guy I knew that tried even talking to a Fallen ended up getting his head blown off by a wire rifle. [b]Zale[/b]: They're not monsters. They don't kill everything in sight. They're afraid of us just as much as we are of them. If you saw an armored guardian walk up to you with a hand cannon at his side, what would be the first thing you thought to do? Shake hands with it? Buy it some flowers and a box of chocolates? [b]Hayden[/b]: No.... I guess I wouldn't. [b]Liz[/b]: But who took care of you? [b]Zale[/b]: Lectriks, a Fallen captain. He was my father.... A long time ago, though, he left. Him and the rest of his crew. [b]Hayden[/b]: They just got up and left? No warning? [b]Zale[/b]: None... When I came back from a scavenging trip one day, the ship was gone. I tried tracking them, but I could never find any clues. Spent years searching. The only thing my dad left behind was this cloak, lying on the ground. [i]Zale gestured at the cloak he was wearing. It had a faded-white color. Old, and tattered along the edge.[/i] [b]Liz[/b]: ....You call him your father? [b]Zale[/b]: Of course! He taught me everything I know. How to hunt, how to fight. He even showed me how to read in Eliksni. He raised me as a Fallen. In the end, I was treated like one, too... [spoiler][b]------------------------[/b] [b]7 years earlier.[/b] [b]------------------------[/b] [b]Zale[/b] [i](speaking in Eliksni)[/i]: Damnit! [i]Zale swung a practice blade at Lectriks, who swatted it away as if it was nothing but a flea. The two were in a Ketch Training Room, where Lectriks was teaching Zale close quarters combat.[/i] [b]Lectriks[/b]: You are lacking in anger; you are lacking in ferocity. You need to ignite your inner spark! Let your heart strike as if it were lightning! [b]Zale[/b]: I'm trying, but you just keep blocking all of it! [b]Lectriks[/b]: So hit faster! Attack before I have the chance to defend! [i]Zale charged at his opponent. After a few slashes, he followed up the swing of his blade with a second attack. Before touching the ground, the boy spun around while in midair and kicked his leg at Lectriks.[/i] [b]Zale[/b]: Gotcha! [i]The captain held his left arms together in front, blocking Zale's foot. By doing so, he left the rest of his body open for a third attack. Zale took advantage of the opportunity, using Lectriks' arms to pull himself over his opponent. Now in the air directly above the captain, Zale dropped down on top of Lectriks and sent them both crashing downward into the floor.[/i] [b]Zale[/b]: That. Was. AWESOME! [i]After sitting up, they looked around. Training and sparring equipment was scattered all over the room; knocked over and bashed around in the rumble. They began to giggle at the mess in front of them. Eventually, they both burst out laughing when they wondered who would have to clean it up.[/i] [b]Lectriks[/b]: Ah, Zale. They say humans make weak fighters. From my point of view, I beg to differ! [i]The Fallen chuckled at the thought.[/i] [b]Zale[/b]: Hehe, yeah.... [i]Zale looked down at the ground. Lectriks observed the boy's change in mood.[/i] [b]Lectriks[/b]: What's wrong, child? [b]Zale[/b]: ....Lectriks.... am I Eliksni ? I don't look like the same way, I don't eat the same way. I don't even have four arms. [b]Lectriks[/b]: You do look different from the others, Zale. That is true. However, no matter how different you look, you are Eliksni all the same. [b]Zale[/b]: Will I ever see others like me, though? [b]Lectriks[/b]: Yes... I do not wish it, but one day, you will return to your home. Your real home. [b]Zale[/b]: ....I'll still see you again, though. Right? [i]The Fallen captain found the boy when he was an infant, wrapped in a blanket and left near his ship. There was no trace of the one who delivered him whatsoever, but Lectriks saw a flash of innocence in the boy. A spark of bravery. He knew he could not simply leave the boy to die. The House of Devils' Kell would have never permitted it. But when Lectriks promised to assume full responsibility of the boy, until he was old enough to take care of himself, he was allowed to keep the human.[/i] [b]Lectriks[/b]: No matter where you go, child. No matter what you do. You will always be my son. And I will always be your father. [b]Zale[/b]: ....Always? [i]Lectriks saw his reflection in Zale's eyes. He knew nothing about raising a child when he first found him, that much was clear. But as time drew on, he began to care for him. Eventually, he had come to love the boy more than anything else in the world.[/i] [b]Lectriks[/b]: Always. [/spoiler] [b]Hayden[/b]: So who's flying the shuttle? [i]Zale looked up. He must have been lost in the memory that whole time.[/i] [b]Janus[/b]: It's being remotely controlled from the Tower. It's supposedly more efficient. [b]Zale[/b] [i](recovering from a daze)[/i]: How close are we? [i]The shuttle shook violently before laying still. The Hunter heard the jets slow to a stop, as the ramp opened to the white, rocky surface of the moon.[/i] [b]Liz[/b]: Funny you should mention that.