Disclaimer: I do not own is franchise, I only own the characters and story.

A quick shout out to the author Killiani for using these characters in his story, so thank you. Anyway, this is my first posted story and I would prefer if you don't flame me for any mistakes. Constructive criticisms are fine but please no insults as there is no need. If you have read Killiani's story then you have a small idea of what these guys are like but this stories delves into them a bit more and their normal lives.

So, let's get started…

Chapter I: Scars of the psyche…

"This time we can go wherever we want!" The Ghost shrieked with joy as she circled the area around her owner, the panels that shaped her body inclined upwards as a sign of excitement.

Ever since she and her Guardian had assisted in the death of the Hive Abomination known as Phogoth, this particular Ghost has been rather optimistic as of late and not her usual reluctant and sarcastic self. She had been so eager as of late and her Guardian owner was finding it rather intriguing, especially since he was so accustomed to the more cynical attitude.

The Warlock following the Ghost glared at the scenery around him, taking in the barren and dark atmosphere of the Moon and its new inhabitants. In his travels, the Warlock had decided that this place—the Hive's new home—was the worst place in the entire galaxy as it housed some of the most despicable and defiled creatures to walk Gods great creations. He sighed as he caught glimpse of a Fallen Vandal to fight off a Hive Thrall, almost feeling sorry for the xeno. Almost being the operative word.

Shortly after he was revived as a Guardian, he had already started to gain an open respect for the xeno known as the Fallen; he found them fairly intriguing, in the very least. Whenever he was able he would avoid killing them and simply pass them by but if any so much as raised a rail rifle in his direction he would raise his infamous pistol—The Chance—and blast their armoured cranium into smithereens.

He shook his head as he reloaded his infamous weapon, his eyes following his Ghost closely. "Yes, we can go wherever we choose," he began as he started to walk up the slightly inclined hill, his black and pink companion following closely to examine the terrain. "But our mission will continue to remain the same." He hated the sound of his own voice sometimes. His voice was always so clean and educated but carried a constant tone of foreboding, not to forget grief. "We are known as Fireteam Spirit for a reason…"

Cyrus and his trusted colleagues had been famous for finding missing or dead Ghosts in the past, seemingly naturals at spotting the little lights. After their first team up against the hordes of Hive on earth as they reactivated the means to intergalactic travel, they had been chosen by the Speaker to find the missing lights lost in the clutches of the darkness of Earth and any other Moon or world in their path. They had made it their own personal endeavour to hunt down any missing light lost in the darkness' clutches, hoping to light their way through the evil.

'One candle at a time…' He thought to himself.

The Ghost's plates declined into what seemed to be a simulated form of a dreary gaze, sighing at her partner's usually gloomy outlook on life. "You certainly know how to give a girl a good time, you know that?" She remarked sarcastically as her body shook from side to side as to represent her sigh and disappointment. "Why can't you just find some girl to cheer you up and keep you company?"

The human gave out a very distinctive sigh, aiming his weapons barrel over his raised arm. "Don't start that again, Sera." He shook his armoured head and fired a single round into the unwitting Hive Thrall before he could finish the Vandal, his exo-skeletal remains littering the ground them. "As much as you insist, you should have already processed that I am not going to find a female companion."

Within the community of the Guardians, Cyrus has never really been known as the most sociable individual as e has been known to simply avoid conversation entirely and only reply in simplest of gestures for communication. Avoiding conversations, interaction or even the simplest pieces of attention was—as Red-16 called it—his own special skill; to a degree, the annoying Exo was correct However, when it came down to the most basic conversation Cyrus has been known to indulge himself in the company of very few others but mainly his Ghost, Sera.

The Fallen Vandal's eyes wandered towards the sound of the gunshot originated, his four eyes locking on to the solitary Guardian. His instinct instructed him to act and fire his weapon but seemed to instead tilt his head and lower his weapon, as if he was curious. Now a Fallen's instinct was usually quite sharp and usually automatic but this pause seemed odd, as any Fallen would know that a simple pause could end up taking you to an early grave. Instead of firing, the Fallen simply carried on with his patrol, ignoring the Guardian from then on. The small Ghost at the Warlocks side raised her plates at the behaviour of the Vandal, a small pink flash indicating her surprise.

"I… Did you just…" She stuttered in disbelief. "Did you just save the life of a Fallen and he didn't try to kill us?"

Her Guardian ghosted a slight smile as he holstered his Hand Cannon to his side and extract his LDR 5001 Sniper Rifle from its back placement, scouting out the nearby area with extreme prejudice. "Believe it, Sera." He remarked. "That just happened..."

The Warlock started to pace across the barren lands of the moon, avoiding any confrontation with any enemies as to continue with his bounty and get off this God-forsaken rock. The mission that Lakshmi-2 had given him seemed easy enough since he was so used to fighting the mighty hordes of the horrifying Hive, not that he was proud of it.

The mission was to go further down into the depths of Crota's Temple and eliminate the Hive knight said to possess a blade of Crota's will, all the while making sure to destroy the weapon itself. Now, this may have seemed to be a menial task for the Guardian but he took it upon himself to complete this as he saw it as a personal favour and vendetta for the poor soul known as Eris Morn, a once proud Guardian who lost everything to that so called God.

The Warlock never really had a sympathetic side for anyone but he did feel guilty for not being able to help the tainted Guardian, for not being able to defeat that bastard of a Hive himself but even he knew his limits. He knew he had responsibilities to the Future War Cult, the Speaker, and his Fireteam and dying would only lead to a massive void in those different communities. However, that did not mean he could sit by and leave Eris' mission to be forgotten in the rifts of time.

Recently, however, his connections to the Cult were unsettling as he started to become distant from them in these past few months. There was no doubt in his mind that he still supported their beliefs but he had been feeling like his distance from them was starting to change him as he has begun a recline back into his anti-social behaviour, making slightly more hostile to people he did not know or trust. It has been a while since he last wore his FWC uniform as he has recently taken up his own Predawne uniform to fight the Hive.

As he reached the large door leading to the Hive temple, the Guardian aimed is LDR and was prepared to fire at any oncoming attackers; he had to dispatch them quickly as he knew that a horde of Hive was the last thing anyone wanted. A single Hive Thrall was dangerous by itself as its claws could easily tear through Guardians armour if left unchecked. However, they are easily able to be dispatched by a single Hand Cannon shell but a horde of Thrall could dispatch you in seconds. Although the Warlocks mind was entirely focused on the possibility on the many other threats the Hive pose, Cyrus was always worried about the Thrall as he found them the most terrifying; though he would never so much as admit this, he was terrified of those abominations more than any Knight or Witch.

Knights are predictable as they always follow a certain pattern of attack, either charging head on at you with a tainted weapon or simply absorbing most of your firepower in their impenetrable shields. Either that or they hide behind their own brethren and fire bombardments of artillery your way, which certainly made head on attacks more difficult.

Ogres are simple minded brutes that charge straight into the fight, launching barrages of psychic energy from their malformed cranium and cutting down all in their path. Though dangerous at range, the Ogres real strength lies in its incredible physical stature and power. The method to dispatch one is simple: Aim for the head and hope to God you have ammunition…

Acolytes are very easily removed from the equation of battle but can be very irritating if left to their own devices, allowing them to suppress you with a barrage of firepower. Though strong in numbers, the Acolyte is probably one of the less significant parts in the Hives arsenals.

Witches &Wizards are not only irritating but they are powerful and annoyingly resilient, being able to absorb most of the damage taken into their own blasted shield. Solar damage was the only thing that could damage their defences and even that struggled slightly. They had the tendency to be fairly difficult in battle as they would float from side to side of the room and then pummel you with a ridiculous amount of artillery. However, once their shield was destroyed they are basically useless against most kind of weapons as their own armour and flesh is fragile compared to any kind of bullet.

Although these others were more powerful and more deadly, the Guardian still feared the Thrall. Their scream was the voice of the damned, echoing in his ears like a cacophony of death and terror. Their thin and limber body's defied logic as they looked starved and the smell they produced — even in death — was repulsive to the senses. Their torso is similar to that of a frail skeleton, the colours of its armoured shell a repulsive tinge of green with a moulding brown along its decaying flesh. He would be sure to kill every single one he found as mercy was not worthy of such despicable creatures.

As he treaded down the stone staircase, he was sure to keep his footsteps light and soft as he did not want to be detected by the enemy just yet. He watched the open room carefully and listened for any visible or resounding indications that there could be a trap in store for him or that there are patrolling Hive with an itchy trigger finger, the latter being more of a hope than a concern.

He held out his hand and glanced at the small light that appeared, her solitary eye wandering about the room and simulating anxiousness. "Why can't we ever visit anywhere, you know, nice?" She asked as she watched a distant shadow dart across the walls.

Ignoring the question and removing his Hand Cannon from its holster as he glanced at her, being sure to simultaneously watch his surroundings. "How close is it?" He asked as he followed a very distinctive Acolytes shadow, his trigger finger itching to exterminate the monstrosities.

His Ghosts singular eye locked on the corridor before them, her light igniting only a few meters in front of her and her companion. Her angular shell gave the slightest of simulated shivers as she heard the abysmal orchestra of screams coming from the darkness below, the roars of Ogres and Knights alike rang in the ears of Cyrus. At that moment he decided that his earlier thoughts were wrong. This place was not just some defiled land of God's creation but it was something much worse. This was not some tainted world with a corruption that had a hope of being cleansed; the Moon was a living Hell to its very core.

"I can sense their presence a few meters below us…" She whispered, glancing at the bond on her Guardians arm ignite in an emerald green flame and watched as the fires roared with an unholy presence but still illuminated a part of the corridor. She was tempted to make a comment on her opinion of the dark bond he wore when he faced the Hive but she held it back, now was not the time. Cyrus gritted his teeth as he saw a silhouette.

Cyrus gave a visible flinch as he heard a nearby scream coming from a lurking Thrall, his body tensing as random voices started to enter his ears and his hand came to clutch his armoured head.

'Paris seems like a good place to start our search, right Cyrus?'

His Ghost nudged him slightly, trying to get her Guardians attention and also attempting to figure out why he has gone into a self-induced trance. "Cyrus?" She asked as she hovered in front of his helmet, her panels declining slightly. "What's wrong?"

Ignoring her concerns he began to jog through the descending tunnels, watching each unprotected entrance with diligence. "Look, about what I was saying earlier," Sera began as she spoke through his armour and tried to change the conversation, the Warlock listening intently but not halting his progress. "I still think finding a girl could really help you and your social activities or interaction." Cyrus rolled his eyes her statement, starting to lose interest in her. "You know, maybe some human girl or a beautiful Awoken woman." Cyrus blushed slightly at the thought of one Awoken woman in particular. "As I know how much you love Awoken girls."

"You… But I… She doesn't…" He tumbled over his words as he tried to subdue his blush. "Just tell me where the objective is…"

He stopped as his Ghost appeared in front of him, watching her make a sound to indicate silence. "They are right beside us, in the left archway!" She whispered as Cyrus reloaded The Chance and aimed around the corner, a single Knight could be seen worshipping a small green void that seemed to morph and mutate above it.

'I can feel a disturbance in the lights balance here, something is coming…'

Cyrus flinched once more, the memories of his horrifying past flooding his mind but he knew there was there was only one way to block out the voices of the damned. He knew that the screams of battle and the sounds of death would soothe his ears from their tainted words of betrayal and hatred.

Stepping from cover, Cyrus fired his Hand Cannon into the back of its head, making the monster leap from his position, drawing his dreaded blade from its holding and lunge towards the human with an ear-splitting roar. As the Knight swiftly approached, Cyrus unloaded every bit of ammunition he could into the creature but found his attempts to not be enough to down the wretched beast.

Just as the creature was going to slice him with its unholy sword, the Warlock vanished in the blink of an eye. The creature's eyes wandered the room, not able to find the intruder to this most unholy dwelling and roared in a fit of rage. However, its roar was silenced as it heard a single bone snap under the footstep of another presence and it turned abruptly as to find the intruder.

As the monster turned, its eyes were covered by the fabric of an armoured glove and it could feel its armoured cranium being ripped to shreds by the power flooding from the glove. The Warlock roared as he pushed all his void energy into the monsters cranium and completely eradicated it from the head down; it's only remains being the armoured shell of its helmet upon the ground. His flinching suddenly became a violent twitch, almost a muscle spasm.

'Is the coast clear? I don't want to fight anymore…'

The Warlock took a few deep breaths after that manoeuvre, feeling that the use of void energy must have drained him of some of his strength. "Well, I guess that's it." His Ghost sighed as she rematerialized beside him, scanning the remains for transfer to the ship. "I will inform both Eris and Lakshmi-2 that we have-"

'We are not alone anymore…'

"Wait," Cyrus interrupted abruptly as he started to hear an odd whirring coming from the where Knight had been praying, the voids morphing form changing rapidly. "the Void!" He exclaimed as he backed away from it, watching the small phenomenon grow larger and start to expand vastly.

"It's a God-damned portal!"

-Scene Change-

"Hey, little sis!" The ever joyous beige Exo exclaimed with glee as he patted his friend on the shoulder and gave his ever famous Exo smirk. The Awoken Guardian he greeted sighed as she placed her fusion rifle onto the table before her and looked at the Exo drearily, her previous meetings and conversations with the witty Exo has taught her that any interaction with him involves either insults, bad comedy, New Monarchy or about the planet he supposedly owns.

"What do you want, Red?" She asked with a slight smirk and a brush of her midnight blue hair, always finding the Exo's presence fairly enlightening or even amusing at times. "And what have I said about calling me that?"

Red-16 chuckled slightly, his red optics gleaming with mischief and clear amusement. "I was just wondering if you would take me up on my earlier offer…"

Fiona sighed. Yeah, she was right. It was about his planet again. "I have." She replied with false optimism with a very false smile. Red-16's eyes gleamed with excitement at the Awoken's supposed enthusiasm. "I thought about it a lot…"

"Well?"

She quickly smacked his armoured head, making him rub his metal cranium with slight pain. "The answer is no, you mechanical moron!" She declared with a mock glare, glaring at him with her luminous red eyes.

He glared back, his optics flaring with rage. "And why not?!" He exclaimed, the argument attracting the attention of some other Guardians in the hanger.

Fiona growled in frustration. "Because it's crazy, you freaking weirdo!" She growled wile clenching her armoured fists, Arc energy surging through them. "I will not be your jester for this imaginary kingdom you have created on Venus!"

"You dare defy me, peasant!" He snapped, his exclamation laced with humour to hopefully get a response from the newly formed crowed; everyone in the tower knew he was a showman at his core.

Amanda Holiday slammed her hand on the railing as she angrily barked at the bickering Guardians. "Will ya both shut your yaps before I come down there and do it for ya!" Her point was punctuated as she threw a wrench at Red, the metal object colliding with his cranium.

"Hey!" He complained as he rubbed his head. "She was the one to cause such a stir in our conversation, my lovely Amanda!"

Amanda smirked. "How do you think big, ol' Alex will react to yer behaviour?" She asked, noticing him flinch slightly at the mention of their leader.

Fiona also smirked. "Yeah, Red." She remarked. "What will he think?"

Red pulled at his collar nervously. "You should remember, Fiona, that if I fall, you fall to!" He retorted. "Anyway, what the big lug doesn't know can't hurt him…"

Before Red could continue, a large armoured figure stepped between the two and grabbed them both by their armours collar. They both looked towards the figure and nearly paled in sheer terror of the furious gaze of their Commander, his luminous purple eyes glowing with rage and disappointment.

"What are the two of you doing?" He asked in a monotonous voice, the anger in his eyes betraying his emotionless façade. "What have I told you about infighting?"

Both the accused glanced at each other and then back at their leader, the two of them glancing downwards in shame. "It brings down the teams moral..." They replied monotonously, the shame evident in their eyes as he placed them both to the ground.

"And…"

The two Guardians sighed as their leader waited expectantly for their answer, both them hoping that their leader would only scold them and not do something much worse. The two of them had been through this same lecture over seventeen times in the past and it really was getting old.

"We will only regret it later…"

The Titan smirked as he felt the surge of victory flare through his body, thinking of how much he loved to be in command. "So, have either of you seen Cyrus today?" He asked as he brushed his hair, watching his teammates with a careless smirk.

Fiona nodded with a small smile on her face. "Yes, sir." She replied with a mock salute, Red-16 snickering from behind her. "He has gone to complete a bounty on the Moon, something about the Temple of Crota…"

Alexanders smile fell into a look of shock, his eyes dilating in pure terror at the news he had just recently received. "What did you just say?" He asked with a shaky breath, Fiona tilting her head in slight confusion.

"I said that he has gone to the Moon to complete a bounty. Apparently it involves the Temple of Crota…" Fiona watched her commander's eyes carefully, seeing the obvious fear in them and her eyes slowly matched Alexanders. "Wh-what's w-wrong, Alex?"

"We need to go, now!"

-Scene Change-

As the portal stopped expanding, a solitary Witch poured through and screamed with an unholy might, making the Warlock cover his helmeted ears in a desperate attempt to block out her wails. He glanced upwards to see her lash against the air, tearing open a small rift and shrouding the area in a coat of mist. The Warlock retreated himself until he hit a wall, finding that his only entrance had been blocked by the Witch's dark mist.

'We're completely surrounded!'

As the mist cleared, he started to notice many new silhouettes roam the room as if they were searching for their prey. To avoid them for a moment longer, Cyrus kept incredibly still and hoped that none of them would notice his presence. However, just as he began to slowly creep towards the distant archway his boot landed on the remains of the previously deceased Knight. The resounding crack caught the attention of the many wandering silhouettes, their many eyes glaring in his direction with the unholy might of Crota.

The Hive unleashed a hellish scream, their talons igniting in Arc energy and crackling uncontrollably. The Guardian's eyes widened as he saw horde of Thrall screaming as they charged towards his still form, the Warlock unable to react as he was paralysed with fear beyond natural human comprehension.

'We have lost Dagger! The mission is a failure we need to move, now!'

Sera went into a panic as her Guardian refused to move. "Cyrus!" She screamed as she rematerialized and started to nudge the Guardian, hoping he would respond or at least move. "What are you doing?!" Her screams were nullified to his ears, his senses only able to pick up upon the abominable screams that came from his attackers and the thoughts of his imminent death. "Move, Cyrus!"

'For the love of God, run!'

Cyrus felt his fear heighten, the muscles of his legs refusing to obey his orders and instead choosing to condemn him to a similar fate to his previous comrades. In the three years since he was revived as a Guardian, he had seen so much death that he could not remember the body count; he had seen many Guardians fall to forces of the Darkness and he knew it was starting to taint his mind with the corruption that comes with remorse or guilt. However, the deaths that weighed most on his soul were the deaths of his previous Fireteam; they were the people who trained him in mind and soul and he had considered them family. He had seen this before, this same instance and same event unfolded a few years before and the last time it cost him the people he loved.

His eyes dilated and narrowed as fear and terror consumed him, his vision became blurry as he started to collapse on one knee and clutched his armoured head as he roared in agony. He could sense them coming closer, his memories showing him a past event that was almost identical to this one. As his eyes gazed ahead, he could see flashes of rotting and dead bodies long past but they seemed to be reality to the poor broken individual. He knew those bodies, he knew them personally and the guilt that came with them was almost to immense for natural comprehension.

They were the people he let die…

"Cyrus!" His teammate called as they sprinted through the tunnels of the Paris' catacombs, a trio of Crota's knights following with a viscous and murderous intent. "I need you to get your head in the game and find us a way out before we get swarmed!" The leader of their team, an Exo by the name of Kronos-32, had halted his movements and began to unleash a magnitude of firepower towards the knights, his Awoken teammate, known as Libra, assisting as he sliced and diced any of the stragglers following them. "Take Dagger and find us an exit!"

Cyrus nodded as he and his other Exo teammate, a Hunter known as Dagger-13, sprinted through the catacombs, slaughtering any Hive in sight as to try and reach the exit. As they continued to struggle their ways towards salvation, Dagger-13 noticed a pathway back to above ground.

"Cyrus!" She exclaimed as she pulled him in the direction of the exit, both of them firing at any Hive in their way. "Follow m-"

The Exo's sentence was cut short as she was impaled from behind by a spindly and deformed hand, the sharp talons the creature owned as fingers flared with Arc energy. The resulting wound sprayed the Warlock in Dagger's own lifeblood, the very synthetic liquid that keeps her alive.

His eyes widened as he watched her optics dim and her body fall limp as her systems shut themselves down; the horror only continued as the Thrall grabbed hold of her newly orphaned Ghost and ripped the little light to shreds within its energised talons. The creature's attention turned towards him, Crota's own hatred reflecting in the monster's eyes and its scream tearing at any local sound waves with a disgusting cacophony of terror.

Cyrus' instincts kicked in as he picked up the limp form of Daggers body and ran down the path his teammates had originally been, hoping they were still alive. He ran through the catacombs of Paris, his Future War Cult bond illuminating the armours colour scheme and the skulls that littered the walls.

'We have lost Dagger! The mission is a failure we need to move, now!' Cyrus exclaimed through the com as he clutched onto her form, refusing to let any more of these monsters hurt her. "I'm coming to you!"

"We're completely surrounded!" Kronos roared as he and Libra continued to fight the relentless hoards. "You need to get out of here, Cyrus! We need you alive!" His orders fell on death ears as Cyrus continued towards their location, his determination driving him to try and reach his companions. "For the love of God, Run!"

As he came to a halt within a large archway, his visor was suddenly smeared with flailing red blood; the small part of the visor that wasn't smeared allowed him to see the spindly body of a Hive Wizard ferociously tearing Libra to shreds and discarding his body to the ground. The Guardian fell to his knees as he watched the body slam against the ground with a distinctive crack, his body wracked with tremors of utmost fear.

He dropped Dagger-13's body from his arms and laid her carefully in a coffin position, her arms crossed over her chest. Cyrus glanced over to the decimated body of his team leader and noticed that he had been ripped apart piece by tiny piece, his synthetic entrails spread across the ground.

The Warlock felt his body tremble and his eye twitching furiously with unbridled rage and fear, his body being consumed in the Void energy he controlled, the energy roaring with power.

"Burn!"

-Scene Change-

Alexander and his Fireteam had been searching for hours now, investigating every cave and every temple as to find his missing teammate. They all hoped dearly that they could find him as losing Cyrus was something none of them could forgive themselves for; he was to close a comrade to lose and a member of their dysfunctional family.

"Oh, God!" Fiona said as she sprinted in a panic, her fears heightened by the prospect of losing her mentor. "Where is he?! We need to find him!"

Red-16 kept searching each archway as they progressed through the temple, a sound of grinding gears representing his angry grunts each time he found nothing. "Dammit!" Red barked as he continued searching. "Where are you, you silent son of a bitch!"

Alexander halted his movements as he found the remains of a Hive knight, his foot crunching the exoskeletal remains with ease. He looked into the catacomb to see their missing Guardian but was not prepared for what he saw. Fiona and Red caught up to him, their own eyes locking on the Warlock's position and their pupils dilating at the horror in front of them. Fiona raised a hand over her helmets respirator and gasped, tears flowing down her dark coloured cheeks at the sight before her.

Against the catacomb wall sat the Warlock, his body was kept huddled to itself and his entirety was wracked with tremors of pure terror. The ground around him was littered with corpse of the dispatched creatures, most of them deformed beyond any recognition. In his hand were the remains of a Witches armoured cranium, his hand clenched around it as if clinging on for dear life. Unlike his usually silent self he kept mumbling the same words over and over as if he were a patient within an asylum, his sanity questionable.

"Paris… Kronos…"

"Dammit!" Red-16 barked as he turned away and slammed his metallic hand into the stone wall behind him, his grunt sounding like grinding gears. "Not again…"

"Catacombs… Libra…"

"Oh, Cyrus …" Fiona whispered as she watched the disturbed Guardian whimper and cry the words of his past, his body wracked with tremors of terror. "I should have been here, I shouldn't have let him go alone…"

"Crota… Dagger…"

Alexander sighed as he called upon his Ghost, his memories of the first time he met Cyrus being revised and revisited. "Ash?" He asked his Ghost, the small black object appearing in his hand. "Inform the tower that we have an emergency and will need medical assistance for our return." He glanced at the broken Guardian, a frown pushing onto his lips. "Inform them that the patient is Cyrus…"

"My fault…"