Everyone cheered, screamed, and clapped as Angel laid down on the ground and caught her breath. With new energy, she got back up and looked around. It seemed every Awoken, Exo, human, child, and adult made it out alive. But, before she got too excited, she ran over to Logan's body.
"He's dead..." Merlin said quietly as he laid on Logan's chest. Without his supply of Light, he could not fly anymore. "He used up all of his Light..." the poor ghost began to cry audibly.
Angel was speechless, and tears formed in her eyes as she sat down beside the Guardian. The warlock used up all of his Light, knowing the Void would freeze him to death and that he would not be able to revive later. The crowd realized this sacrifice and gathered around the Guardians. They all bowed their heads and crossed their arms across their hearts in respect.
Out of the crowd, another warlock approached. She wore a long, magenta trench coat and carried the infamous Last Word on her belt. The Awoken woman smiled at Angel to show that her intentions were pure. She got down on one knee and gathered solar Light in her hand, then she placed it against Logan's chest. The comforting warmth washed over his body, and the Light was enough to revive him. He began breathing again. "He should be fine," she said to Angel, with a gentle voice, before standing back up and disappearing into the crowd.
Angel grabbed Logan's arm and helped him up. Then, everyone was overjoyed and cheered once again. Angel and Logan looked around at the people clapping.
The City Guard from earlier walked up to the Protectors after they had got the hawk transmatted to the shipwright. "You two understand that, according to Commander Zavala, this is your third time interfering with City Guard business?..." The Guardian designated as Hawkman asked. "He doesn't take kindly to vigilantes..."
"Yes, we're aware..." Logan replied.
"Normally, us City Guard are required to take in any Guardians that disregard order and authority..." Hawkman stated. The civilians that were on the ship began to step in the way of the Protectors, forming a wall between the four Guardians. Hawkman raised his hands up defensively. "I did say 'normally'. I cannot argue that what you two did today saved a lot of people... So, I'm going to let you off with a warning, and I better not catch you again." After that, Hawkman and his partner walked away.
An exo, one of the passengers of the ship, stepped forward. "You saved us, and we are all grateful. If the Vanguard wants to take you in for doing the right thing... well, then they'll have to go through us first..." A symphony of 'yeahs' followed the exo's statement. Angel and Logan smiled, seeing that they were earning the support of the City.
"So, Commander? Whatcha think?" Cayde asked after he turned the video off. "If they were hunters, I'd recruit them right now... Too bad they're a titan and warlock..." Ikora glared at the blue faced exo.
Zavala sighed deeply, as if he knew what he was doing was wrong. "They save lives; I would praise them too. But, they are breaking laws and going against authority to do what the City Guard is meant to..."
"Check t'e news," Nick said as soon as the Guardians returned to the malitia base. Logan turned on the TV and listened.
"After a hawk airbus lost power in one of its engines, two Guardians wielding never before seen equipment and powers were able to stabilize the ship long enough to get all of the passengers to safety, and for the City Guard to take the ship to the Tower for repairs. Interviews with the passengers lead us to believe that these Guardians call themselves 'the Protectors', and it seems this name is rightly earned." The Guardians gleamed with excitement.
"How was it?" Nick asked.
"Well, I learned I can't keep a cargo ship up for long periods of time..." Logan said as he stretched his arms.
"Oi! Don't feel bad, mate, performance issues are still common..." Nick replied with a grin.
Angel snickered. "That's not what I meant!" Logan declared. Out of nowhere, Logan's Void anomaly flew into the room and wrapped its dark tail around Logan's face. Logan laughed as he petted the condensed cluster of dark Light. "Hey, boy!... I think I'm gonna call you Axion..."
"Fantastic... Now we haf a magic dog in t'e house..." Nick griped. One of the hunter's computers began giving off several pings. He ran over and frantically typed on the keyboard. "Yer day isn't ovar yet, kiddies! It seems another event is jus' down the road..." Logan sighed, then he and Angel, and their respective ghosts, ran out of the armory. Nick continued to monitor the event.
The titaness and warlock looked around, but could not spot any odd activity; not even their ghosts were detecting anything. "Nick, you said just down the road, right?" Logan asked.
"Maybe. T'is grid detects pings block by block..." Nick replied over the headset.
Logan raised his hand up to his helmet to speak again, but three jumpships caught his attention. They flew over the armory, then a team of City Guard transmatted to the surface. Without a second's thought, the two Guardians rushed back to their base.
As soon as Angel and Logan made it inside, suppression mines detonated and drained them of their powers. A Defender deployed a Ward of Dawn around them then stepped back. The two Guardians collapsed to their knees, weak and fatigued; Logan's pet, Axion, disipated when the warlock lost his connection to the Void. Two City Guard restrained Nicolas and dragged him from his chair.
"You are under arrest for illegal activity," a warlock, and team leader, said as she read from her holotablet, refusing to make eye contact with the team.
Three more Guardians transmatted into the warehouse: Cayde-6, Ikora Rey, and Commander Zavala. Logan scowled when they arrived. "Angel Perkins, Logan Mann, and Nicolas--" Zavala started.
"Oi! Me name is 'One-eyed Nick'!" The struggling hunter shouted.
Commander Zavala walked over to the Ward of Dawn that trapped Angel and Logan, hands locked behind his back. "--I warned you that I run a strict system, and I do not tolerate vigilantes. I have seen the stunts you pull, the lives you save, but that is mere fortune. A simple mistake could cost many lives due to your lack of coordination and carelessness. I said that City Guard are trained for the protection and safety of everyone in the City, and they are. Not you."
"Is this why we're under arrest? Because you are putting your system ahead of the lives we saved?..." Angel asked as she pushed herself to stand along with Logan.
"The issue is your persistence to act above authority, ma'am, but no, you are being taken in for hacking into the Vanguard's secure network," Zavala emphasized his frustration with venom.
"If it was so 'secure', how'd I hack into it?" Nick asked, basically admitting to the crime. Cayde pointed to the hunter with finger guns and a smile.
Zavala started to walk away. "Your computers, 3D printer, and all records will be confiscated--"
"Not... not my grimiore... I need those... fo... for... for... spells..." Merlin stuttered before shutting off.
"--and you three will be exiled to the Prison of Elders," Zavala finished before transmatting away. Guardians began tagging various items for transmat; the Protectors watched them do this until they were transmatted into a steel caged hawk.
-
I can already hear the mobs forming now. Welp, might as well get my pitchfork and torch.