Entry #1 – Ocean of Storms, Moon --- Rendaus, Aaron. ENTRY READS: [quote]It has been a little over five months since my Ghost resurrected me. In these short five months I have witnessed much change in this new world. There have been a handful of fireteams that have lead, and won, strikes against enemy leaders, the Darkness found in the Black Garden was destroyed, the Vault of Glass and Atheon have fell to our light, and recently Crota, a Hive God, met his end. Since these events, the battles have slowed down a bit but the Vanguard insists that we stay alert. “The Darkness may have been pushed back, but it never truly dies” they tell us. Because of this, a handful of guardians are being sent on solo-patrols in re-acquired territories in our solar system. Unfortunately for me, I am one of those guardians. Today marks the seventh day of my patrol on our Moon. Since Crota was defeated I have seldom seen the Hive here on the moon and the Fallen seem to have left the area for the most part. So, since it seems there is nothing left to do other than wander the moon I have found myself quite bored. I had begun this journal to keep myself entertained and up until today I have only filled it with random thoughts and observations I have had while on this rock. But today is different. Today I experienced something quite terrible. While doing my patrol I encountered a lone Hunter who sat on the edge of the Hellmouth. Since the fighting had slowed it was quite rare to encounter fellow guardians out here in the wild. He was just sitting there, staring down into the dark pit that the Hive populated. As I came closer to him a sharp stench pierced my nose; it was him. He smelled of sulfur and of the pits found in the Hellmouth. Although I myself had only been own there on a few occasions I would never forget the stench that was found in that hole. It smelled of rotting flesh and sulfur, just as he did. His armor bore marks from bullets and even claw marks. His cloak has rips and holes riddled throughout it. Whoever this man was, he had seen far more action than I did. Step-by-step I got closer and tried to greet him but he offered no response, he just sat there. Staring. His visor had a crack through the center. When I was finally at his side I questioned what exactly he was staring at and after a few silent moments he responded, but not a response I expected. “You know, some of us remember our life before we were resurrected by the Ghosts. Do you?” he asked as he turned his attention towards me. I was a bit shocked by this and simply shook my head in denial. “I do.” He said. “Not everything, but some things. I remember dying by the hands of a criminal, although I forget what he was after. I remember having a beautiful wife who loved me. Most of all, I remember having a young son who meant everything to me. He was there when I died, you know.” This came as a shock to me. Never in my short time here had I encountered a guardian who remembered their past lives. As I sat there staring at the man, he returned his attention to the Hellmouth. “I remember my son so well. His name was Andrew and he was six years old when I died. He had dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and a smile that brightened my day whenever I saw it. Do you think it was a blessing being revived, Titan? Sometimes I think it is a curse. No loved ones left, my son long dead after me, my wife along with him, and no dear friends. It seems to be a punishment to me. We are only made to fight for a place where we are seemingly forced to call home. I did fight, and I fought well. I had two others in my fireteam who had quickly become like family to me. This was my new family and I swore to myself that I would protect them both, unlike poor Andrew who I could no longer protect. You see that pit down there, Guardian? There are horrible, horrible things deep down in that pit. My fireteam and I were assigned to lead a strike into that pit and kill a monster more fearsome than anything I had ever encountered in the wild. The Hive called him ‘Phogoth’. Although my team and I had put everything we had into it, the beasts wouldn’t fall. Unfortunately for all of us, our Ghosts had been destroyed during the battle and if we fell we were done for. Se fell first. When he ran out of ammo he tried to attack the beast with Fists of Havoc, but the beast was unphased and saw fit to clear Se’s head right off of his shoulders. This caused my other ally Elizabeth to go in a frenzy but the beast took her from me as well. I was all alone down there with that monstrosity the Hive had created. No family once again, and no Ghost to revive me this time. I don’t know how I did it, and although I nearly died doing it, but I managed to slay Phogoth by myself. Now I am here, alone once again. I have lost my beloved wife, son, and now I have lost the only family I had in this new world.” I was speechless. As I attempted to console him and place a hand on his shoulder the man rose. “I’m tired. I’m lonely…” he said as he turned to me and tossed me his handcannon. “…and I want to see my loved ones again.” After these final words he dropped himself straight into the pit and I watched as his body was consumed by the darkness. Tears went down my face under my visor and I wondered how many other Guardians have experienced this trauma. I could not understand the pain he was going through but it was enough for him to take his own life. As I pondered things and recovered from what had just happened, I looked at the weapon he had tossed me. Etched into the weapon were three words: “Yours….not mine”. [/quote] [spoiler][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/102558801/0/0]#2[/url]. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/106643831/0/0]#3[/url] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/881481/111840429]#4[/url][/spoiler]