If you missed the last chapter of REEF MOB, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/220816121/0/0]here[/url], or if you need to find a previous chapter, you can find them all in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/218618986?sort=0&page=0]Table of Contents[/url]. Please give a bump or leave a comment if you enjoy this and any other chapter! ***  We all look at each other for a moment silently, and then the Guardian cocks his head. “What’s the matter?” he asks. “Did I get some Hive on me or something?” He looks over himself, turning in a circle to try to look at his back. “C’mon, someone gimme a hand here. Or wait, are you all just shell-shocked at being in my presence?” He puts his hands on his hips and strikes a heroic pose, helmet cocked upward. Solis is the first to break, chuckling. The Verge follow suit, and finally Kenedi and I join in, laughing at the antics of the Guardian. Our new acquaintance, though, seems less than amused. “Did I miss the joke? What’s up?” “Thanks, amigo,” I respond, still chuckling. “Just a relief, is all. We weren’t looking forward to fighting our way through that crowd.” “Ah, on your way to the Dusk Warren, too?” “Yeah, why’re you headed there?” “Taniks, of course,” he replies matter-of-factly. “I want his cloak.” “[i]Cloak?[/i]” Solis asks curiously. “[i]Why?[/i]” “Cuz it’s cool and I want it,” the Guardian responds. I feel a jolt as the answer conjures up memories of Ia – with a shake of the head I push them down, turning to consider my crew. “Can’t argue with that. We’re on our way to fight him, too. He’s taken one of our friends prisoner.” “Ooo, a side mission! I can dig it – wait, what if one of you gets Taniks’ cloak, though?” The Guardian’s grip on his weapon tightens suspiciously. A little taken aback, I reply: “We just want to get our friend back, we didn’t come here for souvenirs.” The Guardian immediately relaxes. “Ok, that’s cool, just so long as there’s no poachers. So what, you looking for someone to keep Taniks occupied while you guys look for your friend?” “Pretty much.” “Let’s do it then!” the Guardian cries, positively jubilant. “But let me take the lead. Kinda my thing.” [i]Couldn’t have picked up on that myself,[/i] I think bemusedly. “So what are we to call you then?” “Old Guard,” he tells us. “Just Old Guard.” “Good to meetcha,” I tell him, turning to introduce my crew. “I’m Nas, and this is Solis, Kenedi, and our…friends from the Verge.” Dmitri glowers and shakes his head at me while Galen nods to Old Guard and Bo waves from behind them. “Hi, hi, nice to see ya,” Old Guard says impatiently, “We good to go then? Gotta take off for Venus after this to make a Vault run so my time’s kinda limited here.” “Um, yeah,” I reply, a little thrown off. [i]Who is this guy?[/i] “Sure, let’s go.” Old Guard nods and jogs past us toward the corridor leading to the ketch, not waiting for us to keep up. We take off after him, Galen sidling up next to me as we follow our new friend. “So that’s a Guardian, huh?” “One of ‘em at least,” I answer. “We used to travel with a Guardian ourselves.” “What happened to him?” Galen asks. “He’s here somewhere. He wouldn’t come with us when we left – something happened and he didn’t think it was safe.” “We going after him, too, then?” “After Ia – she’s the priority.” “Why’s that?” Dmitri asks pointedly, jogging to keep up. “Cuz that’s the plan,” I reply tersely. Dmitri shuts up, falling behind Galen as we run faster, trying to keep up with Old Guard. He leads us down the tunnel to an open cavern where the lift field for Kaliks-Syn is. Wolves guard the entrance, but Old Guard doesn’t slow down or show any sign of worry. He sprints faster before vaulting into the air and gathering his Light around him in electric currents – in midair, the electricity overtakes him, and he seems to disappear in a crackling surge of energy as he pulls two glowing blades from his armor – The electric zips and the collapsing Wolves are the only things that tell us where he is, but within seconds he’s rematerialized in front of us, not even looking back at the carnage he’s wrought. “Damn, that never gets old,” he tells us, grinning behind his helmet. And then suddenly Taniks appears behind him, roaring and brandishing a scorch cannon. “Do you mind?!” Old Guard turns and shouts to him. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you it’s rude to interrupt people?!!” Taniks bellows at us again, but in one fluid motion Old Guard reloads his rocket launcher and flips off the rocks scattered around the cavern – spinning in midair, he fires two rockets at Taniks before landing on the other side of the room – we all duck and turn as the explosions knock Taniks back, but before he can respond to the assault, a sniper round hits his ether mask dead center, denting his armor – I look back to see Old Guard already cocking his sniper rifle again and putting another round in Taniks’ face – and another – and another – Finally, Taniks retreats back up the lift field, roaring something at us before he flees. “Yeah, yeah, ‘ways of old’, blah blah,” Old Guard says as he reloads his weapons and approaches the lift field. “Haven’t heard that a hundred times already.” He stops at the foot of the lift field to turn back to us and drop a wink. “You coming?” As he disappears up the lift field, I meet Solis and Kenedi’s eyes. I can feel all of us thinking the same thing: [i]it takes a very….unique mindset to be a Guardian. [/i] But as we use the access codes Seren gave us to follow him up the lift, I can’t help but think that I’d also rather have him with us than not. … I land on the deck of Kaliks-Syn and immediately look around to take stock of the crew – one by one they appear behind me, Old Guard already up ahead, neutralizing threats. “Ugh, it reeks in here,” Dmitri complains, covering his nose. “I’m amazed you even noticed,” I retort casually. “Ok, trash can, I’m getting really sick – “ Dmitri starts, but Galen puts a hand on his chest to stop him. “Keep it together, remember why we’re here,” he hisses to him. “And why exactly are you here, Galen?” I ask. He turns, and though he looks sincere, there’s a nagging itch in the back of my mind, the itch that formed from being around the supremely untrustworthy Verge. I have to push it down though as we follow the breakneck pace that Old Guard is setting ahead of us. We follow him to the next room, Wolf corpses already strewn across the deck, Old Guard firing repeatedly on Taniks as he shoots his scorch cannon from the other side of the room. I push Kenedi out of the way to avoid a scorch blast that misses us by inches. With another roar, Taniks disappears and Old Guard forges after him, leaving us behind. “[i]Djido never left us behind,[/i]” Solis says sourly, glaring after the Guardian. “Only option we’ve got right now, though,” I reply, but unable to help giving Old Guard credit – I have a feeling this would’ve taken us much longer to get through without him. I help Kenedi up as we jog after Old Guard, following him to the next room, where a giant crash greets us as a Wolf Walker falls to the deck. “That’s right, bring it!” Old Guard shouts as he soars overhead, dropping grenades on the wave of Fallen that surges toward us. “Galen, take the left side! Dmitri, Bo, go with Solis to keep that hallway – “ I trail off as I look around. The Verge are gone. “The hell…” I wonder aloud, looking back the way we came. There’s no sign of them anywhere. “Those miserable sacks of – “ “GET SOME!!!” Old Guard shouts as he unloads on the Walker, completely oblivious to us. A sniper shot nicks Solis, spinning her as she tumbles to the ground. She howls in pain as Fallen reinforcements pour out of a nearby door and firing on us. Kenedi and I return fire as we struggle to pull Solis behind cover. “OLD GUARD!!” I bellow “I’m in the zone, gotta focus!!” he cries back, ducking behind cover and reloading his sniper rifle as the Walker unleashes a cannon blast – the ketch echoes and shudders as Old Guard leaps to higher cover and shoots at the Walker again. I look from him to the nearby hallway, seeing Captains and Vandals charging toward us. Solis struggles to raise her weapon as Kenedi begins firing, Old Guard completely oblivious to our plight. With no other choices, I raise my own weapon and join Kenedi, firing on the Fallen and praying I’ve got enough bullets left in my clip.