Edward, Gale, and Haxx collected their gear and boarded the ship. "Good luck, Guardians. I hope to see you three again." Nikolai bowed towards them. "Thank you. It was an honor training under your watch." Edward smiled as he shook Nikolai's hand. "Hello, ma'am. Do you need assistance with your bags?" Nikolai kissed Gale's hand. She calmly pulled her hand away. "Thank you, but no thank you. I can handle it myself." "Very well." Gale boarded the ship and sat beside Edward. "Greetings, Titan. At least some muscle has graduated." Nikolai shook Haxx-56's hand. "Muscle? I'm an exo. I have no muscle." with that, Haxx boarded the ship. Nikolai stood there dumbfounded by how literal Haxx took that. "...Alright..." The ship departed from the academy and was on course for Earth. The atmosphere in the ship was stale. No one spoke. Haxx was playing chess with his chrome shelled ghost, C.P. Haxx was losing. Edward laid his head back on the leather headrest and closed his eyes. He put his arm around Gale as she snuggled up against him and laid her head on his chest. Edward found himself in a snow covered plain. He was in faded jeans and a ragged shirt. He frantically looked around for his friends, no one to be found! "Gale!! Haxx!!" Edward cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted. The only thing screaming back was the bitter cold wind. "Ed? Hi, Ed." a soft voice rose from behind Edward. "Oh, thank God." Edward sighed and slowly walked over to the girl in a blue dress and skirt which was flowing in the wind. "Gale, are you okay?" Edward went to hug her, but he was knocked to the ground by some unknown force. He looked up to see two four-armed creatures appear from nothing and impale her. Her blue dress turned to a dark and evil red as blood flowed from the two punctures in her chest! "GALE!!!" Edward laid hopelessly in the snow, unable to move! Edward sat up immediately, breathing deeply! He looked around the cabin, he took slower breaths knowing he was safe. "Ed?! Ed, relax it was just a dream!" Gale, who WAS sleeping, looked up at Edward. She grabbed his cheek and made him meet her gaze. Edward tilted his head into her hand. "Yes... Just a dream." he smiled and patted her shoulder. Gale laid her head back on Edward's chest after he kissed her forehead. Edward looked over to Haxx and his ghost. C.P. moved another piece and said something in binary that only Haxx could understand. "D*** it! You got check-mate again!" shouted Haxx. Edward chuckled a little, then fell back to sleep. The civilian ship hit Earth's atmosphere making it shake a little. Edward woke up and looked around. Haxx was still sitting at the table, but he was face-palmed as C.P. danced. "Another.. check-mate." Haxx spoke quietly. Edward looked down to Gale, all she did was grumble and shift a little. He rubbed her back as he looked to the other guardians. Some were reading books, some were gathering their belongings, and some were finishing their breakfast. The ship slowly docked with the Tower. Guardians marched to the front to get off. All of the commotion woke Gale. She looked up and rubbed her eyes trying to clear her vision. "Good morning, Darling." Edward looked at her smiling. "Good morning, Dear." Gale pulled her hair back and tried to be pleasant. (Not a morning person) "Are you people getting off or what?!" screamed the frame that was driving. "Yes! We're going." Edward yelled back as he helped Gale up. Edward and Gale grabbed their bags. "Are you coming, Haxx or are you wanting to win one more match?" Edward laughed. "Win?! You obviously have not been watching me play. I have lost every game." Haxx crossed his arms as he looked to Edward. "Yeah, I know, I saw you play. That was a... nevermind." Edward walked off the ship. He, Gale, and Haxx gathered with every other guardians. "Ah, welcome to the Tower. I'll put our names in the roster, you two can go look around if you please." Edward walked over to the computers. "Alright. See you in a little while, Ed!" Gale and Haxx ran off. Edward looked at the monitor. Squad Name: <ARC> Squad Description: <Assault and Reconnaissance Company> Squad Moto: <Calling forth the storm> Squad Members: <Edward Hayes, Gale Burke, and Haxx-56> Your Team Has Now Been Saved To The Tower Database. "Hey, guys! Do we want a permanent apartment or will we rent one every once in a while?" Edward tapped his headset. "Um, permanent." Gale thought about it before answering. "Alright. We are an official fire team, we have our apartments, annnd we are late for a Vanguard meeting." "You signed us up as Vanguard?!" "It'll be fun. Just meet us in the courtyard." Hundreds of guardians had gathered around. Commander Zavala, Cayde-6, and Ikora Rey were already speaking when Gale and Haxx arrived. "What's going on?" whispered Gale as she leaned towards Edward. "It's our initiations into the Vanguard. The main issue now are some potential threats, but those are for higher ranking members." Edward tilted his head towards Gale as he kept his eyes on the leaders. "What about newbies?" "I don't know. Special assignments? Crucible?" "Do you want to join a faction?" "Eh. The New Monarchy are a little extreme, Dead Orbit is pretty out there, then there is the Unicorn Squad." "Ed, don't make fun of FWC." "You want to join F***it We Cill?" (Kill) "Ed!" The guardians began to scatter and the leaders were gone. "It's over? Did we miss our assignment?" Gale looked around confused. "Uhhh?" Edward looked around equally confused. "We didn't get an assignment. We will stay at the Tower for the time being. They will give us missions once we have proven ourselves." Haxx basically recorded the announcement. "How do we prove ourselves?" Edward looked at Haxx over Gale's head. "Random bounties." "Fair enough." "Hey, Gale? Want to check out our new homes?" Edward pulled out his brand new house key. "Yes! I could use a good shower." Gale tried fixing her hair. "What about you, Haxx, or do you take oil baths?" "It's a grease bath! You're a sick person, taking a bath in a beverage." Once again, Haxx took a stupid joke literal. "I'm sorry. Grease bath." Edward gave a pathetic smile. They walked to the barracks and found their apartment: complete with two beds, a bath, and large kitchen/living room. "Okay, room C-68. We each got equally nice apartments all together." Edward looked at rooms C-67 and C-69. "Yay! Earth atmospheric baths!" Gale ran into Edward's bathroom. "Alright... I have no idea what that means." Edward shook his head. "I'm going to my apartment, Edward. Have.. fun.. I guess." Haxx walked out of the room. Edward leaned out of the door. "Okay! See ya, Haxx!" Edward walked around the room. He sat on the couch and turned on the tv, trying to tune out the shower. "Nothing good on. Typical." Edward turned off the tv, then checked out the rest of the house. Gale's red and silver ghost was outside the bathroom door. "No entry!" "Um, hello?" Edward jumped at the sudden demand. "I'm sorry. My name is Drake. Annd, no entry!" "Hello, Drake. I guess you are standing guard for Gale." Edward crossed his arms. "Yes! And you are not going in there until she is decent!" "I'm sure Gale would disagree with that last part. What if I need to take a s***? I can warn her I'm coming in." "Use the public restroom." "Use the public? This is my apartment!" Edward clenched his fist in frustration. In their argument, they didn't hear the shower turn off. Gale walked out of the bathroom. Drake flew to Edward and covered his eyes. "Don't be peeking!" "I'm decent, Drake." Gale laughed as she raised the collar of her shirt. She was wearing a white dress. Edward grabbed Drake and pulled him away from his face. "By the way, my ghost is a woman. If I find you intruding in her space, you will be dead before you knew what happened..." Drake slowly floated over to Gale. She laughed. "What was the 'Earth atmospheric baths' deal?" Edward looked down at Gale and smiled. "Oh, um. The atmosphere of Venus made my hair frizzy." Gale laughed as she smoothed her hair down. "So, what's with the fancy getup?" Edward felt the material on her sleeve. "I was thinking a walk through the City and get a dinner." "That sounds great, but let me get more appropriate clothing."