[The Tower]

Sunlight seeped in upon a large roundtable in a vast great hall, lined with chairs. The consensus consisted of vanguard leaders, the numerous faction heads in the city, all notable guardians who commanded authority and the speaker.

The first to arrive, were the faction heads, who simply sat around. The last city heralded many factions, each spearheaded different ideologies for guardians and supported their ideas, functioning largely as a political party within the consensus. They held no concrete power, but their ideas were backed by hundreds of guardians.

The second, were the numerous squad captains nurtured by the Vanguard. Top tier combatants who had heralded the guardians into a terrifying force on the battlefield. Hunters like Tevis and Sai Mota fell into the category.

The squad captains functioned similar to a modern day military general, their presence demanded respect. They held authority and power, but were still under the top brass.

Naturally, the last to arrive were the Vanguard. The three top commanders of the last city. Zavala, Ikorra and Cayde. The three managed every single guardian in the city, and were considered the heads of their respective cliques.

As all gathered, not a word was spoken and every representative quietly took their seat. The consensus was never gathered for tranquil reasons.

Every member present understood one fact, if they had been called, some great threat had moved the Vanguard to finally gather all the viable forces in the city. They all exchanged silent glances as tension bult up in the room.

All were on edge, having no intel was the biggest disadvantage for the faction leaders. They would jump on every opportunity to promote their agendas, but the Vanguard were far too capable to let any morsel of information slip to their hunting dogs.

A characteristic shuffling reverberated in the room as Cayde played with his gun,

"Hey hey hey, why the long faces?" Cayde chuckled, resting his feet on the tabletop, as the ones behind the table seemed eerily quiet.

A faction leader, Jalaal stood up as he flicked his poncho.

Glaring at Cayde, his nose scrunched up, "You gather us at the break of dawn with no explanation, yet you still ask worthless questions."

"Dead orbit was it? Calm down princess, did we interrupt your beauty sleep?" Cayde retorted whipping his revolver back into the holster.

Jalaal looked at Cayde's feet pointed towards him, their eyes met as Jalaal's face contorted.

"if you've got a problem amigo, we can always take it outside" Cayde continued, resting his neck on his hands as he leaned back, he shot the man a glare.

The two maintained eye contact as Jalaal reluctantly swallowed his anger, crossed his arms and sat back down.

Ikorra eyed the two from the side, as she signaled the table to quiet down.

Zavala spoke up as the Vanguard commander, "The consensus cannot start until all required members are present. As it stands, we are missing a few names. Therefore, I request that all those present, wait patiently."

Avoiding his gaze, all faction leaders settled in quietly as their gaze lingered on the door, waiting for new arrivals.

A few minutes passed as Wei Ning waltzed into the room with a thundering cadence. She simply stood beside the squad captains, and the long wait continued.

Waiting for an hour or two, the room stayed dead silent as a strange aura neared the room. Everyone instantly tensed up, their hair stood on end.

Feeling their goosebumps, their eyes were glued to the entrance as a loud thud flung the door wide open. Two individuals and Shaxx donning their heavy suits of armor walked out into the hall, a gruesome killing intent threatening to spill out any second.

"I hope we're not too late Zavala." The man's voice shook apart the room, the gravitas in his words spread around the room as his charisma drew everyone in.

With a hint of respect in his voice Zavala exclaimed, "Saladin, we've been waiting." The awoken titan sauntered over as he firmly shook the mans hand.

He turned towards the one at Saladin's side, "Lady Efrideet, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Zavala finally looked towards Shaxx, as the crucible commander simply nodded standing beside the Vanguard.

The hall seemed full, but a few names on Zavala's list were still not present. Hence, he chose to wait a bit longer.

This time, the hall wasn't dead silent. The arrival of the iron lords had sparked quite the conversation within the hall. Accompanied with Shaxx, the three were practically living relics of the warlord era.

"It's an honor, Lord Saladin, Lady Efrideet, I am Lakshmi-2. The future war cult remembers your legacy everyday." The exo bowed her head

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Slowly, the rest of the faction leaders began greeting the Iron lords.

Small talk had already began circulating within the room as two other guardians quietly entered, slipping past the table towards Ikorra's side.

"Praedyth can't attend. He's busy, he asks for your understanding." The titan spoke, handing Ikorra a token with a rune engraved on it.

Ikorra took it in her palms as she nodded, "I understand that his research is important. But the consensus doesn't take no for an answer. You should relay that to him next time, Kabr." She replied.

"Of course, in the meantime, Pahanin and I are here to answer your call, whatever it may be" Kabr replied, as Pahanin nodded wordlessly.

Ikorra signaled to Zavala as the vanguard commander took center stage, all eyes went on him as the room quieted down.

Zavala glanced around, at all who had gathered, a somber frown etched over his face,

"We gather here today, to address a threat. A threat to our very exis-"

Suddenly a rumbling pair of steps rushed from behind the door, two fiery sunbreaker titans barged into the consensus, putting everything on hold.

"I hope we're not late." Ouros chortled, dragging Liu Feng behind her.

The consensus seemed puzzled at their presence, as Ikorra stood up,

"The Vanguard did not invite the Sunbreakers into the consensus." She spoke up, as an oppressive light emanated from her.

Ouros smiled at her threat, as she simply walked closer, with Liu Feng in tow.

"But I did" Another voice chimed in, as all eyes went to him. A man clad in white robes, with a strange mask on his face, descended from the spiralling stairs.

"Speaker" Zavala acknowledged the man's presence as he led him towards the centre of the room.

Ikorra calmed down seeing the speaker as she let go of her aura.

"The Sunbreakers will prove to be an excellent force towards our newest goal. Is that not true Ikorra?" The speaker stated with his soothing voice.

"Naturally, but I am far more concerned about their loyalty to the city than what they're capable of." She retorted.

But the speaker simply waved her off, "In times of war, one does not pick and choose, as guardians we must use all what we have to protect. The Sunbreakers have accepted to help us. We cannot reject this goodwill."

Ikorra simply nodded, knowing she would not win the argument, "As you wish, speaker."

The speaker put his hands behind his back and walked around the room, surveying all those who were present.

"My fellow guardians, the Vanguard calls upon your aid. The city needs you, your strength and your bravery. A new enemy has appeared. The light within us calls to our duty." He uttered, giving Zavala an opportunity to continue.

Zavala took a deep breath as he continued once more, "The Ahamkara are a mystical species. Capable of granting wishes, changing the very flow of reality in our world. Coming to our world with the traveler, they feed on the possibility of what could have been." His voice died down as he pulled up some papers.

"These wish-dragons. They accrue power through our desires, and we pay dearly for them. A wish granted, is a terrible, terrible price paid. At first, we looked to them with hope. But their power has limits. It can be corrupted. With thousands of guardians ready to make wishes, the Ahamkara grow unimaginably strong. Yet every wish they grant, impacts the life of everything we hold dear."

Listening to his words, many faces held a grave look.

"Recently, these dragons have cultivated enough power to terraform worlds. It is a frightening display of power."

Zavala's eyes narrowed,

"If such a power was turned against the Last City. Humanity's last stronghold would cease to exist. Everyone in this room knows, that there are many who actively work towards such an outcome."

He heaved in a deep breath,

"The Ahamkara need to be hunted down. So that such a power never turns against us." He declared.

Zavala's orders were surprising to say the least, but the first to agree were the Iron Lords.

Lord Saladin and Lady Efrideet agreed immediately,

" To nip such a threat in the bud, it is what we do as light bearers. We cannot allow the enemy the opportunity to strike first." Saladin's voice rang within the hall.

"The future war cult is ready to face any enemy, just say the word commander." Lakshmi spoke out immediately.

However, a disgruntled scoff from Jalaal upset the mood of the room.

"So you say we must fight wish granting dragons? If they can change reality itself, who is it to say that we can even kill them?" He muttered, but his words did not escape Ikorra.

The furious warlock vanguard simply continued,

" The Ahamkara derive power from belief and desire. If we give them nothing, they are simply helpless. But I suppose dead orbit is always looking for ways to run than to confront any enemy."

Jalaal's pale skin seemed to brighten up with red hue as his eyes struck wide open, "How dare you say that? Dead orbit gives us hope, to live on beyond the sol system. It's an opportunity for life to blossom beyond this accursed world. We, are not cowards."

Ikorra's hand slammed the table, rattling the faction leader. "How dare I not? If you wish to prove yourself, by all means. Step up to the occasion."

The speaker stepped in to ease the tension in the room as he skilfully changed the subject,

"What type of fireteam do we plan to send?" He asked.

"Ideally, three in each team. If not more. Everyone gathered here has their own forces, I am sure we can manage this at least. We are up against hundreds of Ahamkara, and not a single one should be left alive." Ikorra answered, looking towards Kabr and Pahanin.

"The Sunbreakers work best alone, we will handle our own fireteams." Ouros chimed in.

"I will let the Praxic fire know, we have all the numbers we need." Wei followed up.

"It seems to me that everyone is raring to go. However, with our current firepower, we are not ready." Zavala said.

"We will need help. Humanity does not have a lot of allies, hence there is only one we can truly trust."

"You mean to say, seek assistance from the awoken?" The speaker asked.

"Their Queen posses magic beyond our understanding, perhaps, her warriors will be of assistance. Or at least her weapons will be useful." Zavala affirmed.

"It is all decided then. However, I see the two of you do not have a third?" The Speaker switched towards Kabr and Pahanin.

"Apologies speaker, but I believe we're up to the task." Kabr replied, not wanting to partner with a nuisance.

"The speaker is right. I do not doubt your ability. But the Ahamkara have a way with twisting appearances. A third will suit you the best. The city has many fine guardians. Any requirements?"

Kabr and Pahanin exchanged a few glances as they sighed helplessly,

"One who would not get in our way. Perhaps, someone who is quick and quiet." Kabr replied, eyeing Tevis.

"I appreciate the invitation, but my squad likes to work better alone too." Tevis chuckled.

Kabr narrowed his eyes, with slight disappointment, his face stooped low, until another voice chimed in.

"I do believe your squad has someone to spare does it not?" Wei interrupted.

"You can't be serious, it's a dangerous mission." Tevis glared.

"He's been through worse. Are you going to stop him now?" The titan questioned.

Before Tevis could even reply, Wei continued to speak out,

"A guardian who is quick, quiet and lethal. I have exactly the right person in mind. Isn't that right squad captain?" She shouted, drawing everyone's attention.

Tevis sighed internally as he apologized to his apprentice in his heart.

'Your life is quite difficult'