Gunshots in the background. Total Darkness, flashes of white like the sun turning on and off. Screams everywhere, explosions and what sounds like buildings crumbling to dust. He sits up, the old cot creaking, gasping for breath, his mechanical lungs working heavily. Dreams, should I have dreams? He thought. He ran his metal hand over his head, a Human mannerism. He was after all, part Human. The Exo adopted him as one of their own long ago. But before we continue the tale of Zo'ruuk, let me tell you how it began. It was a time long forgotten now, erased from the annals of history. Before the Golden Age. The world was in anarchy, once great nations were reduced to nothing, once proud militaries now lied at the bottom of the walls that protected the last remaining cities. In one of these cities. In a broken down shack. A baby boy was born. The boy was basically born in the gutter, forgotten about, cared for by a dieing mother. Never named he became known as Rook, a small times thief growing up in a bad place, until the world changed. 15 years passed, and then the turn of the Golden Age. In a flash the Traveler came, terraforming the planets of our solar system, making them habitable and desirable by the people of earth. Little did we know the Traveler would stop at Earth, making it its home. With this new hope Humanity was united once again, new age tech, innovations and breakthroughs in science started an age of exploration and great times. Humanity was once again glorious, United, the world sought peace, and through peace they sought new ambitions. The stars. They started colonizing the terraformed planets, Mars, Venus, Mercury, etc. Humanity grew so much in just 20 short years of the Golden Age. And then it changed. The young boy, born in a shack in a dark age, grew up to be a strong man, with an attitude and strong beliefs. He joined the earths new military for a chance to straighten up, a force for good and the conquest of the galaxy. He excelled, he wasn't top of class but he did well in his fields, hand to hand training and explosives ordinance. He rose through the lower ranks quite quickly, showing an affinity for leadership and making sound decisions, he was respected by his peers. Unbeknownst to him, Sgt. Rook was soon to be a Hero. With the Traveler came the rest of them. Part a blessing and part pure hell. The first wave were the peaceful ones, what we came to know as the Awoken, a very ethereal race with their varying shades of pale skin, some had markings, and most had luminescent eyes of blue or orange, they were a very human like race, so we got along. Next to the Awoken came what we came to know as the Exo, a proud race of machines, human like but cold, sinister, tireless. They revered our Golden age tech and provided us ideas and tech of their own. We got along with them like you do with your creepy ex-military neighbor, tensions were high, weary, but peaceful. The peace with our new galaxy mates lated about a year, and then Hell came. The Fallen, a Proud Race of four armed warriors, mandible faces, they were fearsome with their many houses and armies. The Vex, hated by the Exo these beings were mechanical in Nature, time traveling beings with numbers we couldn't fathom and a hunger we quite couldn't place. The Hive, animalistic but smart they were like a Tsunami on our galaxy, unforgiving and merciless they destroyed all in their path. The Cabal, giant rhinoceros like warriors of honor, they were the most militarized, trained, they were a force in of itself, unstoppable and unsurpassable. Most fearsome. And what we have come to know as the Fifth, little is known because as the legend goes, no one has lived long enough to tell anyone else what the hell they were. They are the nightmare we fear, the boogieman under our bed. These forces swept across our galaxy, each colony on each planet fell, so quickly, a war between all, a grab at land like they thought it was free. One by one members of our race, and those of our new friends, were obliterated, hunted down or tortured. Until all that remained was Earth. Then the Traveler protected us during the siege of Earth. The Travelers great powers drove them back, crippling most of them, but in the process hurting itself, we owe our thanks to our dear Traveler. But alas, Earth was lost, barren, and left to waste..... All on Earth was Lost but One City. The City. Protected by The weakened Traveler, it became the last of the peaceful races home. The City, the home Of Zo'ruuk. During the great Golden Age, Rook befriended many of the Exo people, for just some reason they got along, Rook was large and towering, like the Exo people, Rook had heart but had that cold dark side of his childhood. Once the Cataclysm came, Rook fought valiantly among his Exo friends that had come to join him in military service. Battle after Battle they lost, friends were killed, Battalions lost, until all forces were driven back to Earth, forces low, few, and far between they fought with all they could. Towards the end of the War there was a great battle with a Legion of Cabal, in the act of saving an Exo friend named Tor'iik, Rook was gravely injured. Rook fought and fought until he just couldn't. Valiantly he fought and unwillingly....He blacked out. Little did he know and sadly, many of his EOD Squad were lost, but somehow they drove the Cabal back. His Exo friends recognized his bravery, and took Rook to the Exo Base of Command with little time to spare. Upon his deathbed the Exo gave Rook the Ultimate gift. His life, But at a great cost. They operated and operated, making him into one of their own, all that remained of his human self was part of his heart, his brain, his other organs were failing and considered useless by the Exo. They turned him into an Exo for being one of them and protecting them. Part Human, albeit a small part, but mostly Exo. Machine. Laying on that operating table, Rook lost himself. He became someone new and lost his memories of who he was, just floating fragments remained of Rook, like broken glass in a great lake they floated along in its current. The last thing he remembered, or should I say the first, was sitting up. Bright lights all around him, he looked down at his body, flexing his hands and testing his mechanical muscles. A deep mechanical voice to his left toned "Rise Zo'Ruuk, Hero of the Exo." And so his story began anew. The Traveler fought and saved the last city, his new home with the Exo. With his new home came new thoughts, new questions. Who am I? Why am I here? Where do I begin? -And this was the beginning of Zo'ruuk. And how I imagine the Cataclysm and other events to have been, let me know what you guys think and i hope you enjoyed reading it!