Chapter 3 When I returned to the Tower, night has fallen, and there were only a few Guardians still roaming around. When I made my way to the Cryptarch, he recognized me right away. “You,” he said. “You are the one that defeated the Archon.” I guess news spreads fast. “If you survived,” he said. “You must be very strong, especially since you were just revived.” That reminded me, I needed to visit my family and give them a proper burial. It’s the least I can do for them. “Thanks,” I said. “I have something for you.” I took out the encrypted engram and gave it to Rahool. “Can you decrypt this for me?” “Of course I can. It’ll just take me a minute,” he said. “Thank you again. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to meet a friend at the hanger.” He bowed and I made my way to the hanger to see if Proto was there. When I got to the hanger, the place was dark and quiet with only a few lights on. Off in the distance, there was a Hunter that really stood out because of his thin and long bright yellow cloak and his grey and bright red armor. As I got closer to get a better look, it came to me that he’s Proto. “Hey Proto,” I called out. “I got the warp drive you said to get.” He looked at me and called back, “Good, bring it over here. I have something for you too.” I wonder what it could be. Could it be another upgrade to my jumpship or a lead to my next assignment? He was at my ship but wasn’t working on it, so I tossed him the warp drive and he started working. “You said you have something for me,” I said. “So what is it?” “I’ll tell you once I’m done with this,” he said. “By the way, nice job taking down that Archon. Not many rookies can take one, especially on their own.” “Yeah, the Cryptarch said the same thing,” I said. I may have been quick on my feet, but there were still a few close calls. Once Proto was done installing the warp drive, he showed me a little device. “What is it?” I asked. “I call it the double jump,” he said. “The name alone is pretty self explanatory; it’ll give you the ability to double jump. It’s easy to use too, just jump again mid-air and you’ll gain extra height.” Sounds very useful; I took it but I didn’t know where to put it. “Give me the device and I’ll integrate it to your armor,” he said. He went around and attached it to my back. The moment it touched my armor, it really stung; like three bees stinging at the same time. “You should’ve warned me that it would sting, Proto.” He laughed, and continued integrating it. “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you,” he said. “Whenever you find new chest armor, just bring them to me and I’ll do the rest.” “Speaking of armor,” I said, “I need to check on the Cryptarch, he should be done with that encryption I gave him.” “Maybe we’ll meet up later?” Proto said. I nodded and left to check on Rahool. “You got lucky with this,” Rahool said. “You got a cryptid helmet. These are hard to come by.” He gave me the helmet and I didn’t know what to do with my old helmet. “Oh, you can give me your old helmet,” he said. “I can change it into Glimmer, but you won’t get much.” So I gave him my old helmet and put on my new helmet, and he gave me about sixteen Glimmer in return. “Thank you,” I said. “If I ever find any more of these, I’ll be sure to give them to you. Is there anything I need to know about them?” “Actually yes Guardian, there are five different engrams you can find on the field. Depending on what color they glow, determines how rare they are. From common to extremely rare, it’s white, green, blue, purple, and then gold. You want to keep an eye out for the last three since they’ll give you the best gear.” “I will keep that in mind, Rahool. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to meet the Speaker.” Ghost led me to a room where there was a clear sight of the Traveler and in the center of the room, there was a miniature holographic sphere surrounded my machinery. “There was a time… when we were much more powerful…,” someone said. I looked over to see who it was and it was a man wrapped in robes and wore a mask, which made it hard to tell if he was Human, Awoken, or Exo. “…But that was long ago,” He continued. “Until it wakes and finds it voice, I am the one who speaks for the Traveler.” That means he is the Speaker. “You must have no end of questions, Guardian.” I do have some questions, but I don’t think I have that many. “In its dying breath, the Traveler created the Ghosts, to seek out those who can wield its Light as a weapon -- Guardians, to protect us, and do what the Traveler itself no longer can.” “What happened to it?” I asked. “I could tell you of the great battle, centuries ago…,” he said. His voice sounded sad, like something he doesn’t want to remember. “How the Traveler was crippled. I could tell you of the power of the Darkness, its ancient enemy. There are many tales, told throughout the City to frighten children. Lately those tales have stopped. Now… the children are frightened anyway.” He looked at me straight in the eye and said, “The Darkness is coming back. We will not survive it this time.” “Its armies surround us,” Ghost said. “The Fallen are just the beginning.” “What can I do?” I asked the Speaker. “You must push back the Darkness,” he said. “Guardians are fighting on Earth and beyond… join them. Your Ghost will guide you. I only hope he chose wisely.” And then he left leaving me and Ghost in the room. “I did… I’m sure of it,” Ghost said. “We’re in this together now.”