The Outlaw: Shattered Past Book Seven (Forsaken)

Chapter 13: Conspirator

 Aaron groaned as he woke up in a sleeping bag, he looked around for a moment, he was inside of an empty shipping container with a bunch of unopened cans of food on top of a shelf and a desk. There was a nearby lamp too, as he felt the warm glow of the light on his face. He looked down and saw that his armor was removed and a large bandage was wrapped around his torso. "Where...where am I?" He asked weakly into the dark that was just beyond him. A figure walked over to him through the dark. It was a familiar face, and hopefully a friendly one. The Drifter walked over to him, his scarred and bearded face became more apparent as he grew closer to the lantern.

"You're on the Derelict, on orbit near the Kuiper Belt," He replied leaning up against a wall of the shipping container and crossing his arms. "Your ghost called me and told me you needed some repairs. So I came down and helped ya. Your ship's in the hangar."

"What...happened?"

"You, my friend, experienced your first taste of the other side," Drifter replied with a chuckle. "Not death of course, but the other part of Light...there's a bit of dark in every guardian now, seems to me that you just got a taste of yours." He said looking at Aaron. Aaron looked down at his hands and huffed heavily over and over. He remembered the power that Dregen Yor had, the horrible things that he had done...Aaron, was killing Scorn, yes, but he killed a Siegebreaker Commander. And that dark fire that he had been seeing...that was a shadow that was growing inside of him.

"Crystal?!" He shouted. His eyes darting from left to right "Crystal?! Are you alright?!"

"Aaron, it's okay. I'm alright." Crystal said as she phased out of him. The Exo clasped his hands around her shell and pulled it to his chest. His power core was racing and he started to hyperventilate to keep himself cool.

"Hey hey hey," Drifter said walking over to him. "Relax bud, your Ghost is fine, things aren't gonna get too bad from this point forward." The Drifter said leaning up against the wall nearby. "You've just gotta make sure you keep your head up."

Aaron looked up to this bearded figure for a moment. "K-keep my head up?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, the dark is like the depths of the ocean. You start to dive deeper and deeper the longer you look...and sometimes you won't like what you find lurkin down there." Drifter continued, his brown eyes crawled over to Aaron's face. Taking in his still panicked expression. "Listen brother, the fact that you awoke the dark in you isn't a big deal, what difference does it make? You already killed a Siegebreaker Commander, and that was before you crossed over. Queen Mara will want you dead after you put Uldren in the ground, James back at Hope wants to capture you. No matter what happens to you after this is over, you're fucked every which way." Drifter said to him. "The dark will keep you safe, it'll make you strong enough to beat them back."

"This...this isn't what I wanted...I-I,"

"What?" Drifter looked at Aaron. "You thought you could just waltz after Uldren and kill him without any consequences?" He scoffed. "Well, I don't quite know who damaged your processor, but that isn't exactly how things work in the real world, amiright?" He asked. Aaron looked down at the ground and to the Ghost in his hands, he sighed and looked up at the surface of the shipping container that surrounded him.

"What do I do now?" Aaron looked to the Drifter. Drifter paused for a moment, looking up at the container letting out a breath.

"Well, finish the job," Drifter replied. "No use comin this far and not doing that, amiright?"

Aaron looked down at the small sleeping bag before looking back up at Drifter. "Right...no point in stopping now. I've got nowhere to go, nobody to turn to..." Aaron started to stand up before getting a sharp pain in his lower back that shot up to his shoulder plating. He groaned and flopped back down. His left hand shot over to his shoulder and he collapsed to the small bed again.