Destiny, Episode XVI: The Stranger's Call

Previous Episode: Episode XV, The Summoning Pits
Next Episode: Side Episode VII, Queen of the Reef

The Tower, the Last City, Earth

Day 036

            The sun had yet to rise on the Tower when Koga and the others carefully made their way to the Hangar. The place was almost completely dead in the pre-dawn hours, only maintenance frames assigned to night shifts making their rounds silently. The kiosks were closed, and the entire deck illuminated softly in the light of that second moon, the Traveler hanging quietly over the City.

Koga had not asked the Vanguard permission to go to Venus. As late as the minute he woke up, he was tempted to head out ahead of the others, leave them behind so that they would not go with him. Guardians were supposed to be independent, yes, but most were veterans with a century of experience, or more. He and his comrades had less than forty, and they were about to head blindly to Venus to find the source of a transmission that was almost certainly a trap. If Ikora, or worse, Zavala, were to have any inkling of their idea, the answer they would receive would be a resounding, and perhaps home-arresting, ‘no.’ But the mystery was too much of a temptation for Koga – the woman had spoken to him specifically. Why she did was a question that had bounced in the Warlock’s head endlessly for the past two days.

“You realize that incoming and outgoing ships are logged by the Tower, right?” Dal hissed in all three of the Guardians’ ears. “The Vanguard will know what we’ve done.”

“By the time we do, we’ll be on Venus.” Lisset whispered back. “You’re not going to talk us out of it.”

“I know.” Dal muttered. “That doesn’t mean I can’t be the voice of reason.” Boudica floated next to the surly Ghost from where she had been hovering over Basilisk’s shoulder.

“Don’t pretend this doesn’t interest you, Dal.” She chided. “You’ve been sending Kita and I theories ever since you found out.” Dal rolled his single eye as best as a Ghost could, but he stayed silent. Despite how nervous all three of the Guardians, and their companions, felt, it was hard not to be excited about what they were doing. Striking out into the unknown had a charm to it that was hard to ignore.

Holliday was gone, and steadfast Roni was asleep behind her desk. Jalaal, thankfully, was not brooding in the corner of the room. Koga was about to start thinking that they were alone in the Hangar until he looked up into the small room where the Future War Cult’s emissary made her office. Lakshmi-2 stared down at them, her eyes following them. Koga stopped suddenly as soon as he saw the Exo, a chill spreading down his spine as adrenaline flooded his body. The others saw her too a moment later, and they also froze. It became a form of a staring contest, three young Guardians staring up at a woman who conducted herself as if she was ageless. Perhaps she was.

After a few tense seconds passed, Lakshmi made no attempt to move. She only nodded slightly, a gesture of approval. Koga carefully took a step forward, then another, his friends right behind him, and together they kept walking until they cleared her line of sight. “What the hell was that all about?” Basilisk barely repressed a growl as soon as they had made it in the clear. “Who was that?”

“Lakshmi-2.” Koga replied quickly, pacing over to a terminal near where Holliday worked during the day. His fingers tapped on the interface, simple but somewhat less than user friendly. “She represents the Future War Cult. I do not know why she is here.”

“Does she know what we’re doing?” Lisset asked, looking up at the elevated room. From their angle, they couldn’t look back through the front-facing window, but somehow the Hunter doubted the same was true in reverse. Koga shrugged, uncertain, and the question dropped at that. He frowned as he continued to work through the system’s interface. Typically, when a Guardian called for a ship, it was put through Holliday, and she would do this herself, or have an automated system manage it. One could do it without her help, but the general consensus was that it was a waste of time. Only troublemakers and the foolhardy would try to circumvent the Shipwright. Koga had a sinking feeling that he and his friends qualified as both.

A few taps later, and suddenly there was a whir of machinery usually drowned out by the sound of maintenance and flight. “Okay, I got it.” Koga said, stepping away from the console. “Our ships are coming up now.” Before anyone could speak another word, they could feel the cold of transmat overtake them. When Koga’s vision returned, he was sitting in the cockpit of his Arcadia. The ship was still being lifted from the bowls of the Tower, but after a few seconds he could see the night sky through the Hangar doors be slowly revealed. The Warlock began to punch in the start-up procedure, and the jumpship hummed to life at his touch. To his right was Lisset’s Galliot, positioned awkwardly high on the platform due to its unusual geometry. Somewhere below them both was Basilisk’s Regulus, in queue for takeoff.

“Ready to go, Koga?” Lisset asked over comms. The Warlock nodded, and flashed a thumbs-up at her.

“Ready.” He said, confident. Over comms, he could hear the Tower’s automated air-traffic control trying desperately to get his attention, but he wasn’t worried at the moment about following procedure. Slamming the throttle forward, the Arcadia shot out of the Tower’s Hangar like a bullet, streaking up and past the shining alabaster sphere of the Traveler, up to the stars beyond.

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            The Arcadia shuddered like the hand of God grabbed it and gave it a tug as it dropped out of NLS. It was a sickening pull of deceleration as the ship’s avionics struggled to make sense of real space from the sensor phantoms of warp travel. Koga grimaced as he fought the controls until stability returned, but felt relief set it when it did. The ship was centuries old, and had suffered a critical failure once already – it was hard not to worry that the same wouldn’t happen again. “I am out of NLS.” Koga announced.

            “Same here.” Lisset replied, her Galliot suddenly streaking into existence right off of Koga’s port wing.

            “Dropping out now.” Basilisk noted, a heartbeat before his Regulus appeared off of the starboard wing. “Anyone picking up any tails?” Koga leaned over to look at his jumpship’s sensor interface. The only contacts he could spy where two Guardian ships right on top of his own, and a good half-dozen Fallen signals roaming around in low orbit.

            “No Guardian ships in orbit.” Koga answered, “but I do see several Fallen ships, likely Skiffs.”

            “It won’t be hard to slip past them.” Lisset said. “Once we’re close enough to the surface, we can transmat down and be on our way.”

            “Sounds like a plan.” Basilisk nodded. “Koga, do you have your destination?”

            “It should be displayed on your HUDs once we land.” Boudica answered for him. “There was a Guardian outpost in the region once – I advise getting the lay of the land there before we meet Koga’s ‘stranger.’”

            “Agreed.” The Titan said. “Okay, Koga, take us in.” The Warlock cleared his mind of doubt and fear, dialing in on the task at hand, and pushed the throttle forward. His Arcadia responded like a dream, and streaked forward towards the planet lying tantalizingly ahead.

            From orbit, the world looked a strange, sickly green. Once upon a time, Venus was a world that could kill in a second. It had possessed a highly acidic atmosphere, capable of boiling through steel and flesh horrifically fast, and if the air didn’t kill you, the constant volcanic eruptions would. It was a hellhole of a planet that spewed sulfur and magma almost constantly, with clouds so thick that it was impossible to see the surface through the haze.

Once the Traveler visited it, however, it became a thing of beauty. From what Koga could remember, both from any material he could scrounge up from the Warlock library that wasn’t barred to him and from scattered memories of his first life, it had become a jungle world, forested and flowering with life. The Ishtar Collective had made camp there, some of the greatest scientists in history, but the question why was eluding Koga like a phantom. All he knew was that when the Collapse came, Venus died. Now, it was wild territory, just like Earth and the Moon and everything else in the system, and he was about to drop right into the middle of it.

Passing through the far less deadly atmosphere of Venus, the three Guardian ships hurried towards the surface. “What is that?” The Warlock asked, his eyes wide. Great spires of grey stone, dull brass, and glowing white energy rose from the ground. They looked ancient, far older than it ought to have.

“I don’t know.” Kita admitted. “I couldn’t access the Vanguard database on Venus. Classified, I guess.” Through the gaps in the strange structures, Koga could see more familiar architecture, unmistakably human in design. He could see in the distance a statue of a winged woman, and beyond it was a treacherous precipice where it seemed like a massive chunk of land had broken off and fallen into the strange orange sea. Against the horizon, a great volcano spewed gas and fire into the atmosphere, blue flames licking its sides.

“Terra incognita.” Basilisk muttered. The Titan had the right of it – Koga had joked once about looking at a map in the Tower that looked so ancient in design that he half expected to see the words “here be dragons” on its edges. On Venus, though, the joke seemed to lose its humor.

“There’s a clearing below us.” Lisset started. “We should set down there.” Her Galliot pulled away from the other two, swooping low on a landing approach. The others followed close behind, and within a second Koga could feel the cold of transmat take him. When consciousness returned to him, he stood on a small rise in what seemed to be mountainous foothills, his comrades standing before him.

They had left the Tower without warning, and their equipment showed it. Perhaps they were going to be granted new armor and firearms from the Vanguard in recognition of their service on Luna, but the Paladins had taken flight in the dead of night. They were still equipped with the same gear they had worn when going to battle against Phogoth, and all of them were quite familiar with how the weapons had underperformed against the Hive’s best. Whatever enemies on Venus were allegedly far more dangerous than any the three had seen before. Basilisk gripped his pulse rifle tighter – he didn’t want to die again because he had the next best thing to throwing rocks.

At least they could rely on their Light. Honed by hours of practice between missions and sharpened while under fire on the battlefield, the Guardians were more in tune with their abilities than they ever had before. Regardless of what they were about to go up against, they could trust in the untapped energy within them to see them all through the storm. All the same, requisitioning new equipment was the highest thing on each Guardian’s list as soon as they returned to the Tower. Even Koga had to admit that it was somewhat optimistic thinking.

“I would prefer not to walk into this blind.” The Warlock said. “Kita, what do we have to work on?”

“Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?” The Ghost replied, a touch hesitantly. He remained hidden inside Koga’s robes, unwilling to risk being picked off by some unseen threat.

“Bad first.” Lisset answered. “I like to know what I have to work around.”

“The bad news is that the House of Winter has mostly pushed Guardian forces off of this region of Venus.” Kita explained.

“I was there for that.” Basilisk noted. “They’re here in force.”

“Right, and there lies the problem.” Kita continued. “The Vanguard has ordered all Guardian forces, except for elite scouts, to retreat from the region. Effectively, we’re on our own.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Dal added, sourly. “So, what’s the good news?”

“The good news is that the infrastructure is still here.” The Ghost answered. “All Guardian outposts are still maintained by the scouts, and can be accessed manually at any time. Scouting data, after-action reports, Sparrow and transmat links, and a whole assortment of information meant for Guardians on patrol.”

“That’s our first play, then.” Lisset said, stepping forward. “We’re going to need to know the lay of the land before we try to meet your ‘Stranger’, Koga.”

“Agreed.” The Warlock nodded. “Ready, everyone?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Basilisk replied, readying his pulse rifle. “Set, take us out.” The Hunter gave a curt nod, and started forward, her feet sinking and rising out of the moist Venusian mud as the three Guardians started their trek.

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            The mountainous terrain broke in favor of deep jungle and ruins rising from the undergrowth. It was human, elegant and graceful in design, and broken and forgotten in appearance. It was a different kind of decay than the Cosmodrome, frostbitten and cluttered with debris. Here, it was as if the entire planet was slowly devouring the place, the buildings starting to slowly sink beneath the surface. It was tragically beautiful to Lisset, a kind of tragic portrait of what had been as seen through crestfallen eyes. The Reef had never been interested in reclaiming, at least as far as she could remember. Only the City and the Guardians that defended it were driven to try to rebuild that long-forgotten Golden Age. It was a contagious optimism, one that was absent from the purple mists of the Queen’s domain.

            They met the Shanks first, rising from crevices to investigate the Paladins’ approach. As soon as they positively identified the Guardians for what they were, the blue-painted drones immediately opened fire, lances of arc energy shooting out from weapons hidden beneath their chassis. “Return fire!” Basilisk shouted, somewhat unnecessarily, and soon the air was filled with the sound of gunfire as all three Guardians engaged. It was strangely comforting to hear the rattle of a pulse rifle, the crack of a scout rifle, and the meaty bang of a hand cannon again. The semi-silence of Luna was something that none of the Guardians had gotten used to. At least here, their enemies could hear them fight back; add balance to the cacophony of war.

            It did not take long for reinforcements to arrive, responding to the contact their scouts had made. A Vandal and six Dregs rounded a corner only to meet a wall of lead. The armor on the Fallen was mercifully thin, and the fireteam made quick work of them. When the last Shank spiraled into the ground, exploding into tiny pieces of electronics and plating, the Paladins wasted no time catching their breath. There was no doubt that the Fallen had called in the firefight to their commanders – it would be a matter of time before more arrived.

            “How are we doing on time?” Basilisk asked, slapping a new magazine into his pulse rifle.

            “Less than fifteen minutes until the deadline.” Koga replied, keeping one eye on a small timer he had set on his HUD. “We need to move fast.”

            “The outpost is just up ahead.” Boudica stated over comms.

            “Get me close, and I’ll be able to access it.” Kita noted. Koga nodded, and darted forward, hand cannon at the ready. No more Fallen came, though that was little comfort to the Warlock. They could be hiding around any corner, waiting inside any shadow. At least the trick he had learned on Earth applied here – Venus had an atmosphere, and that meant that a cloaked Vandal had nowhere to hide. Another reason to like this planet over the Moon, Koga thought.

            Their objective was ahead, a small gazebo-like structure at the edge of a sheer cliff. It was surrounded by broken-down cars, similar in design to the ones that had littered the entrance to the Cosmodrome. There was a strange discontinuity about their make – they seemed out of place, the kinds of vehicles that were driven back before the Traveler arrived, but here they were, two hundred and sixty one million kilometers from Earth, ferried here on spacecraft with capabilities only dreamed of at the time, and driven by people who lived three times as long as their ancestors ever had and using equipment that would make a technophile blush. “It was a strange Golden Age.” Koga whispered to himself.

            “Hm?” Kita perked up. The Warlock rolled his eyes in slight embarrassment – there was no such thing as privacy with a highly advanced, nigh-magical AI floating around inside one’s armor.

            “Nothing, Kita.” Koga replied, a touch of sadness in his voice. As he stepped to the edge of the cliff, he looked down to see where the ground had fallen away into the deep orange seas. In the distance was another chunk of land, no doubt connected once upon a time. “Just thinking of days gone by.”

            “Did you ever go to Venus, Koga?” Lisset asked, pacing next to him. The Warlock shook his head, uncertain.

            “I do not remember.” He shrugged. “I remember being a researcher – perhaps I may have visited, but I did not stay.” He fell silent, and a knot began to form in his stomach as broken sensations floated to his surface. “All I can say for certain is that I died on Earth, trying to escape. I remember being afraid.” There was an awkward pause, one shattered by Basilisk clearing his non-existent throat.

            “As much fun as it is recollecting how and where we died, I’d rather we get a move on.” The Titan said, brusquely. “In case you forgot, this planet is my grave.” That snapped the two back into reality, and the Warlock quickly moved away from the cliff’s edge, his cheeks reddening slightly.

Against the building sat a simple computer, like the one he had accessed on the Cosmodrome when forming that first Sparrow link. In a flash, Kita appeared, and quickly floated over to the outpost. A small link port had been designed with Ghosts in mind, and Kita quickly accessed it with a pulse of blue energy. The computer hummed as it woke from sleep mode, and began to chirp pleasantly as Kita did his job. As soon as he was done, the outpost fell back asleep, waiting for the next Guardian to arrive.

“I’m surprised the Fallen haven’t pulled this thing apart.” Lisset noted, folding her arms around her rifle. Basilisk merely pointed to blue ichor spattered against the ground and pillars of the structure, blood that was unmistakably Fallen. “Ah.”

“I’ve met a few scouts on the range.” The Titan said. “Hunters, with impeccable accuracy. I’m not sure if they are capable of missing.”

“Do you think they know we are here?” Koga asked, turning to his team leader. Basilisk merely shrugged.

“I’d be amazed if they weren’t already reporting this in to the Vanguard.” He replied. “We’d better get a move on before Cayde sends one of them to take us home.” The Guardians began to pace away from the outpost, weapons at the ready, their eyes on the lookout for any motion.

“What did you pull from the outpost?” Koga asked, his hands gripping his hand cannon tight.

“A lot.” The Ghost answered. “Sparrow-link, maps, and a large collection of data.” There was a troubling pause. “There’s a lot of information here on something called the Vex.”

“Vex?” Lisset repeated.

“Some kind of war machine.” Kita explained. “They’re tall, well armored and armed, and seem to be capable of teleportation. There are sensors across the Sink set up to track them.”

“I advise trying to link into the sensor grid.” Boudica suddenly interrupted. “If they are capable of teleportation, they can ambush us at a moment’s notice. At least the sensors might give us some warning.” There were no complaints. Koga checked the time – slightly over seven minutes remained on the clock.

“If the sensors are close, we ought to have time.” Koga stated. He waved his hand cannon in the direction of the massive stone and concrete building ahead of them, an illustrious structure that looked like an ancient university had simply moved from Earth to the frontiers of Venus. “In there is the rendezvous.”

“Then get your Sparrows.” Lisset said, hers already phasing into reality below her, its engine purring to life. She grinned toothily at the noise. “Oh, have I missed this.” She whispered under her breath in exultation. Before anyone could say a word, she was off, her Sparrow’s engine howling as she raced towards the diamond marker on her HUD, deeper into the ruined campus of the Ishtar Collective.

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The sensors were located in a dilapidated two-story building, overgrown by vines and surrounded by the strangest plants that Koga had ever seen. They seemed to twist and turn on their own accord, opening and unfolding petals at the Guardians’ approach. He wasn’t sure why that was – were they predatory, like some kind of Venus Fly Trap (the irony of the name was not lost on him) and reacting to a disturbance in the air, or was it the Light inside of the Paladins that made them turn to face them? It was the Light of the Traveler that made Venus the way it was now – perhaps every Guardian contained a small spark of creation inside them, a fraction of the power that the imperfect alabaster sphere once had.

The Guardians dismounted as they made their approach. The Fallen, of course, were all over the ruin, and they responded immediately once they saw them approach. Streaks of arc fire lanced out from the target building, splaying against shields of Light and scorching the ground. “Light them up!” Lisset shouted, sprinting to cover as she fired her scout rifle blindly towards contact. The others didn’t need much encouragement, and the firefight began in a flurry of exchanged arms, bullets and arc fire whipping past each other into a discordant mix of lights and sounds.

The majority of the defending aliens were Dregs, with Vandals acting as advisors. Lisset watched their tactics as close as she could, given the situation. There seemed to be a kind of disregard for the lowest tier amongst the Vandals, a disregard that was matched by a nigh-suicidal aggression by the Dregs. Within seconds of the first exchange of fire, a large group of them sprinted out from the building and towards the Guardians, hoping to either overwhelm them by sheer numbers or force them into making a mistake – one that would be easily exploited by the waiting Vandals. Unfortunately for the Dregs, they were far slower and larger targets than the hissing and shrieking Thrall of the Hive. Wordlessly, the Paladins turned their fire on the advancing Fallen, and gunned them down without much of a thought.

With the majority of their firepower now dead or dying before them, the Vandals retreated deeper inside the building, either hoping to create a redoubt or escape. From inside, a guttural computer noise announced the presence of a Servitor, the leader of this particular group of Fallen. It knew better than to expose itself to incoming fire, and stayed hidden inside of the structure.

“Come on!” Basilisk waved, pushing out from his forward and across the open ground towards the target building. Almost immediately, the sharp cracks of line rifle fire followed streaks of arc power as the Vandals inside opened fire at the oncoming Titan. One shot splashed against his Light, but the rest hit nothing but dirt or the concrete of a building behind him. Shotgun in hand, Basilisk entered the building and got to work, his teammates following close behind.

The Vandals were easily killed, but the Servitor proved to be difficult. After round after round bounced against its spherical plate shell, it teleported away in a haze of purple light. It reappeared behind the Guardians with a mechanical roar.  “Behind us!” Koga shouted, spinning to avoid an orb of void energy blasted out from the Servitor’s eye straight towards the center of the three. His hand cannon cracked three times, and the Servitor exploded into pieces, all three shots punching straight through the center of its eye and hitting their mark.

“Are we clear?” Basilisk asked, looking around for his next target. The motion tracker remained empty, at least for now, and the Titan’s stance eased. “We’re good.”

“The sensor is upstairs.” Boudica spoke clearly, evenly as always. Sure enough, in the corner of the room was a small staircase leading up to a balcony of sorts where a City-built computer sat, humming silently. Again, there was no sign of the Fallen having picked it clean, and more bloodstains gave the reason why. Kita apparated with a whoosh over Koga’s head, and floated over to the sensor station. A few seconds of pulsing later, and the Ghost flashed back inside the safety of his Guardian’s armor.

“Okay, we’re linked in to the sensor grid.” Kita reported. “If the Vex decide to show up, we’ll know about it.” Lisset turned her head to face Koga’s.

“How much longer, Koga?” She asked. The Warlock grimaced under his helmet – time was running out, and he had no idea if the Stranger would stay once the countdown hit zero.

“Less than three minutes.” He said, hurrying down the steps and towards the door. “We had better hurry.”

“Yes, we wouldn’t want to keep death waiting.” Dal grumbled.

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The entrance to the main Ishtar Collective building was closer to ‘destroyed’ than ‘blocked.’ The front doors were covered in debris from some structural collapse, and completely impassible. It was a small silver lining that the ground underneath had given way as well, revealing what seemed to be some form of tunnel. The passage was lit with a soft blue glow, too strange to be manmade. Bioluminescence was the most optimistic answer as Koga ran through the possibilities, he and the others standing at the entrance to the cavernous throughway.

“Not exactly the most inviting way in.” Basilisk muttered dryly.

“We’ve been to the Hellmouth.” Lisset said, looking over her shoulder at the Titan. “This looks like a carnival by comparison.” She stared back at the tunnel. “A strange, foreboding, glowing blue carnival, but…” The Hunter trailed off. Koga grimaced under his robes, steeled himself for whatever lay ahead, and started down the cragged slope into the tunnel.

Nothing waited for them down there, no Fallen looking for a prime chance to cut the Guardians to pieces with their arc sabers. The Warlock’s hypothesis was wrong – the blue light was not coming from any plant. Blue magma lapped at the ground, runoff from some underground volcanic activity. If Koga had to guess, the erupting volcano in the distance was to blame. However, it was not just the magma that was creating the light. Energy sparked across the walls as the Guardians moved through the tunnel, as if the entire thing was one massive live wire.

“I don’t like this.” Kita whispered in Koga’s ear. “There’s so much energy here, but I have no idea what the source is.” The Ghost was right – the sparks were being produced on surfaces with no exposed circuitry or wiring. It was as if the rocks themselves were producing lightning. Even when the natural tunnel broke into a manmade maintenance tunnel, the lightning continued to spark. Eventually, comforting yellow light appeared on the floor at the end of the tunnel, a sign of a way out. Koga hurried forward, and rounded a corner to begin climbing up, before letting out a gasp.

The tunnel ended at the foot of a massive library, beautifully designed with both marble and oak. Hundreds of ancient books, maybe thousands, still were on the shelves, seemingly untouched from centuries of being abandoned. The collected knowledge of human history was here, at the fingertips of humanity’s greatest minds once upon a time: a new Library at Alexandria, millions of miles and thousands of years away from the original. But it was not the room alone that made the Warlock gasp – a massive white column of energy stretched from the floor of the room to the ceiling, strange and alien like nothing else he had seen on the planet.

Koga hurried towards it, his comrades hurrying to move with him. “What is that?” Basilisk asked, stunned.

“It is some form of energy stream.” Koga answered, his voice soft with fascination. “Incredibly designed, definitely not human.” Kita flashed into existence by his side, and immediately began to scan the energy pillar. “Take as many scans as you can!” The Warlock urged. “This must be what the Stranger sent us to find!”

“But what is it?” Basilisk asked again. There was a strange familiarity about it, somewhere in the back of the Exo’s mind. Memories began to churn, but he couldn’t make sense of them. A growing sense of dread began to flow through him the longer he stared at the column, and he turned away.

“A conflux of non-baryonic streams.” Kita thought aloud as he worked. “Going where?” Suddenly the Ghost made an alarmed beep. “I’m picking up Vex activity. Strong. Right on top of us!” Kita hurried back towards the Warlock as the column disappeared, and the air began to blacken as a cloud formed. Lightning sparked inside of it, and Koga felt his hair stand on end as the ionization in the air grew only stronger. “No, no, no, no!” Kita began to stammer as he braced for what was to come. “It’s the Vex!”

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With a crack, the cloud parted to reveal two lines of six bipedal bronze-colored machines. Where the stomach ought to be was a glowing white fluid inside of a container, and their dish-like heads had a single unblinking red eye. In their hands, almost an extension of their arm, were bronze-colored weapons, and they flashed and sparked with red fire as the drones immediately engaged the Guardians. Koga and Lisset scrambled for cover, but Basilisk stood where he was, his eyes widening in horror.

Deep inside the Exo, something clicked. Memories, broken but still understandable, floated to the surface of his consciousness. He remembered dying on Venus. He remembered seeing his squadmates being shot to pieces by these mechanical warriors, one falling after the other until it was just him fighting alone, desperately, vainly, to make some dent in their thrice-damned hulls. The dream he had as he had been Risen so many weeks ago made terrible sense now. As quickly as something clicked in the Titan’s mind, something snapped. His robotic visage twisted in rage, and Basilisk began to incoherently shout a war-cry before rushing forward into the midst of the Vex line.

“Basilisk!” Lisset shouted, confused and horrified, but her friend could not hear her. The Titan jumped into the middle of their lines, his shotgun blasting as quickly as he could pump the trigger. Each shot punched through the Vex’s armor with little contest, but the war machines continued to fight. When he ran out of shot, the Titan opted to use the weapon as a cudgel over reloading it. He swung at a drone’s head, hard, and was rewarded with a satisfying crunch as it cleanly burrowed into the thing. The head came clean off, but the drone kept fighting, only to die when Koga put a hand cannon shot through its center of mass.

“Basilisk, get back here!” Koga shouted to no avail. The Exo was lost to a rage beyond anything he had ever experienced, and certainly leagues beyond anything Koga or Lisset had ever seen. It was a kind of battle madness, a berserker rage that would make a Viking proud. Shot after shot of Vex weaponry was poured into the Titan’s shield, but he moved too quickly for the damage to stick. For every shot that was poured into him, another piece of a Vex war drone came flying free from its body. It was only when the last Vex fell to the ground in pieces did Basilisk stop, and collapse to his knees, his rage flowing out of him like someone had opened a drain.

“Get him out of here.” Koga said, his voice sharp as another black cloud formed. “I will deal with these things alone.” There was no time to argue, much as Lisset wished she could, and she hurried over to the silent Titan. Were it not for the exoskeleton she called armor, it would have been impossible for Lisset to lift Basilisk in his massive Titan plate. Even with it, she had to struggle to get him on his feet and start moving him back towards the tunnel. Somewhere inside the Titan’s helmet, Boudica was shouting to get his attention, but what she was saying – or if Basilisk was saying anything in return – was a mystery.

The Vex cloud broke to reveal more of the drones, still tightly packed together. Their order would be their downfall, as Koga lobbed a grenade into the center of the pack. The Vex exploded as void energy smacked into them, consuming them atom by atom. The remaining drones opened fire at the Warlock, and he did the same in return. A carefully aimed shot to a Vex head cleanly decapitated it, but the robot continued to fire regardless. Grimacing, Koga changed targets, this time to the glowing white solution in the center of the machine’s chassis. Instantly, the robot crumbled apart as the round punched through. “So that is their heel.” He muttered, slipping behind cover to avoid a volley of incoming fire. As soon as the number of shots slackened, he turned the corner again and fired thrice, each shot aimed for the core of the drones. Three drones fell over, lifeless.

Another cloud appeared and broke, and out came more Vex, this time flanked with taller machines. They were thin, with pronged heads and a long rifle in their hands. More interestingly, a tail waved behind them, a strange feature by any measure. These machines regarded Koga more warily than the ones from before, and leveled their rifles at the Warlock with cold precision.

Koga didn’t need to have the robots fire to know what it was they carried, and he dove behind cover as red fire lanced out from the Vex sniper rifles. Koga returned fire, his hand cannon bucking, and watched as his rounds hit their target. Damaged, but not destroyed just yet, the Vex machines took a knee and started to burn with some internal fire, a haze of yellow that heated the air. Koga fired at a machine while it was in this state, only to have the bullet vanish into thin air well before hitting its target.

The Warlock didn’t waste time fixating on the Vex snipers, and started to properly engage the line infantry of the same model that he had fought moments before. By the time he was done, the snipers were back up again. They weren’t repaired, not completely, but their movements were more fluid than they had been before they had dropped into the protective field. Another hand cannon shot finished the job, destroying the machines and spewing their milky solution everywhere.

More Vex reinforcements came, and more were destroyed. Koga fought like a man possessed, wading through machine after machine like some force of nature. His grenades disintegrated the bronze plate of the robots, and his nova bomb split their orderly formations in an instant. Even when the Vex began throwing tall, bulky war machines at him, their footsteps heavy and mechanical, Koga continued fighting, his fusion rifle flashing and firing over and over again.

This new model possessed a shield of some form, a heavy cannon that fired bolts of void energy that exploded upon contact with the ground, and most alarmingly, the ability to teleport. They would blink forward a few paces before trying to club Koga into the ground with their arms or their weapon. Worse still, Koga saw no weakness on their form, no fluid container that had marked the soft spot for previous Vex machines. Every shot simply burrowed into the black plate of the machine until it eventually collapsed, falling face-forward as it lunged forward one last time.

And then, as quickly as it had arrived, the firefight ended. Koga stood alone in the library, the floor a mess of broken pieces from the war machines. The Warlock’s robes were stained with the white Vex fluid, and he breathed heavily as the adrenaline rush of battle ended.

“Those things were incredible!” Kita chirped, flashing into reality at Koga’s side. “I’ve never seen anything like them. Are there any still intact that I can analyze?” Koga didn’t answer, and stared out at the field of broken machines. It had been an ambush, he realized, but why?

Before he could say a word, there was a sound like a ripple behind him.

<><><><><><><> 

“Well fought.” A voice said, clearly and strongly. A chill ran down Koga’s spine, a chill of recognition, and he spun to face her, hand cannon leveled at the Stranger’s head.

“So. You are here.” Koga stated evenly. It was the first good look Koga had at her, and he sized her up as best as she could. Her appearance was identical to what it had been on Luna, with the same tattered cloak and the same light armor. In her hands was a rifle of a design that Koga had never seen before, pulsing softly with blue energy, and her matching blue internal lights burned in the ill-lit library. She pushed Koga’s hand cannon down gently, away from her.

“We haven’t much time.” The Stranger continued. Koga held up a hand.

“Who are you?” He asked.

“Why have you been watching us?” Kita added, floating over to her. The Ghost circled the Exo from a distance, performing passive scans silently in an attempt to identify her. The Stranger seemed to sigh, and paced past Koga and his Ghost.

“I don’t have time to explain why I don’t have time to explain.” She muttered. Suddenly, she raised a hand to the side of her head. “I will. I will. I know.”

“Will what?” Kita asked, floating closer to the Stranger. The Exo pushed the Ghost gently away from her.

“I was not talking to you, little Light.” She replied. Kita glowered at her, the term ruffling his feathers.

“I’m a Ghost, actually.” He replied, trying to sound as tough as something that could fit in her hand could. If it wasn’t for how serious the situation was, Koga would have laughed. The ambush had sucked the humor out of him.

“Many Guardians fell. Strong ones. But you made it here.” The Stranger continued, staring at Koga strangely. She was examining him, trying to determine from a glance what made him ‘different,’ whatever that meant. Again, her hand went to her ear. “Yes, I’m listening. They are here. With me.”

“Who’s she talking to?” Kita whispered, floating to Koga’s side. The Warlock merely shrugged. It was no surprise that the Stranger would be distant, especially given how she had reached out to him, but here she was only posing more questions for him, and providing few answers.

“I do not think she is working alone.” Koga replied quietly. The Stranger turned back to face the two.

“You need my help, Guardian.” She said, pacing back towards them.

“Is that why you brought us here?” Koga pressed. “What was that conflux? What were those machines?” The Stranger stopped and regarded the broken pieces on the floor.

“They brought us here.” She answered. “The Vex. An evil so dark it despises other evils. This is their world now, and you’ve only just scratched the surface.” There was a pause for a moment, a silence broken by Kita.

“You’re not a Guardian.” He noted hesitantly. The Stranger looked at the Ghost cryptically, almost sadly. Then her attention turned to a Vex robot lying in the midst of its broken comrades, sparking and moving slightly. The Stranger paced over to it and put her foot on the fluid container that made up its core.

“No, I was not forged in Light.” She replied. Her jaw clenched as she put more and more force onto the struggling Vex. “But I believe where our paths cross, ground-“ she pushed her foot through, and the machine died with a howl. The Stranger’s voice strained with exertion and subtle rage. “-could break.” Koga glanced over at his Ghost, who had already floated a few centimeters behind the Warlock. He tightened his grip on his hand cannon. The Stranger looked up at both of them. “Have you heard of the Black Garden?”

“I’ve heard the legends.” Kita slowly said. “Warlock Koga has not.”

“Then you will have to explain to him.” She replied. “The greatest threat to us all lies there, where those machines are born. Where their transformation is beginning.” She stared coldly at Koga, her eyes locking with his. He did not like the emptiness he saw in those burning blue lights. “Find the Black Garden. Rip out its heart. Only then will your Traveler begin to heal.”

“What?” Koga exclaimed, startled. He took a step forward, one that was met with a step backwards by the Exo. “Can you help us find it?” The Stranger looked down at the floor.

“My path’s my own.” Her voice was sad, reluctant. “I can’t.” Kita floated a little closer, between the two.

“If the legends are true, then the Awoken will know where the Garden is.” The Ghost said. The Stranger nodded slightly.

“Ah, yes, the Awoken.” She remarked, her voice strangely condescending at their mention. “Out there, wavering between the Light and the Dark.” She glanced down at where Kita hovered with a strange fondness. “A side should always be taken, little Light.” Her voice darkened. “Even if it’s the wrong side.” Suddenly, the Stranger dropped into a half-combat stance, and an edge entered her voice. “Too late, returning. How many?” The answer clearly didn’t agree with her, because her fingers wrapped around the trigger of her bullpup rifle. “Hold position, kill the engines, and don’t let them find you.” She began to pace forward, and suddenly she was gone, rippling out of existence.

There was a long pause as Koga tried to process what had just happened. The Stranger had come and gone, and left him with more questions then he had answers, and a mission that had only the faintest idea of understanding. As much as he hated it, there were things here that he was not meant to know. Perhaps not yet, perhaps not ever. He turned to look at his Ghost.

“What is the Black Garden?” He asked. Kita paused as he tried to put together an explanation that made sense  - something made difficult given that the Garden was more myth than fact.

“It’s a place of breathtaking beauty and powerful Darkness.” The Ghost replied. “The great Warlock, Pujari, saw it in a dream, and there have been stories told about it for a long time. One of those stories say that the Awoken found it.” Koga grimaced under his robes.

“So, then, how do we find the Awoken?” He asked.

“They live all the way at the edge of the Darkness. The last place the Light touches.” Kita stared down at the pile of Vex corpses below him. “Can’t we stay here with the murderous robots?” A faint smile grew on the Warlock’s face.

“No, little Light.” Kita spun as if he had been poked with a cattle prod. He glowered at his companion.

“Don’t do that.”

<><><><><><><> 

Koga left the library behind him, his hand cannon still at the ready. He had learned a hard lesson from the last ambush, and was going to put that knowledge to use. As long as he was on Venus, his guard would always be up – there was no telling where the next attack would come from, or when.

Sitting by the steps was Basilisk and Lisset, the latter caring for the former. Basilisk seemed like an empty shell, even though Koga couldn’t see through his helmet to see the Exo’s face. “Is he going to be okay?” Koga asked, pacing towards them. Lisset turned her head, her hands still wrapped around his shoulders in a comforting embrace. She raised a finger to the bottom of her helmet, where her lips ought to be, before softly pulling away from the Titan. Basilisk didn’t seem to notice her leaving, staring blankly ahead at a great statue off in the distance, near the edge of the cliff.

“He’s in shock.” Lisset answered in a whisper. “He hasn’t said a word since we left.” She folded her arms over her chest, concerned. “He’s going to need a few days to recover. I’ve never seen him act like that before.” Koga shook his head.

“We saw something similar.” He replied. “Remember what happened when we were in the Cosmodrome and the Fallen were trying to crack Rasputin? He went into a trance there, too.” The Warlock looked over Lisset’s shoulder at Basilisk, yet unmoving. “I have never seen the past affect a man so.” He grimaced under his robes. “Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of a few days vacation.”

“What happened?” Lisset pressed. Koga thought for a moment about what he was going to say.

“I met the Stranger.” He eventually started. “There’s a place known as the Black Garden-“ The Warlock was interrupted by an audible gasp by the Hunter. “You know of it?”

“I thought it was just a story!” She replied quickly. “Just a children’s fable. The beautiful Garden hidden away in some corner of the universe.” She quickly realized that she was getting louder as she spoke with excitement, and hushed her voice. “You’re saying it’s real?”

“It is real, and it is in the hands of the Vex.” Koga answered. A dark mood fell across Lisset’s face. “The Stranger said that the Awoken know where it is.” Lisset frowned.

“I don’t remember anyone finding the Black Garden when I was a Corsair.” She answered slowly. “It must have happened after…” She trailed off uncomfortably. Koga sighed, and ran through his options.

“Lisset, I was going to see the Awoken myself, see if I could not speak to them, ask them for help.” Koga started hesitantly. “But I do not know anything about Awoken culture. All I know is what you have told me, and that is not enough for me to be able to make a case.”

“You want me to go?” She asked, catching on. Koga slowly nodded. Lisset was quiet for a moment, lost in thought. She turned back to look at Basilisk, who remained sitting and silent.

“I can take him back to the Tower.” Koga said, following her gaze. “I am sure the Vanguard can help him better than we can.” Lisset looked back at Koga, still unsure.

“The last time I was in the Reef, I was running in a broken-down Galliot for the Tower.” She started. “It’s changed there. I don’t know if they’ll let me in. Hell, I don’t know if they’ll let me live.” She sighed, running possibilities through her head. Most of them weren’t pleasant. Finally, she nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it.” She looked up at Koga. “If I’m gone for too long, don’t come looking for me. It’s not worth it.” A gauntleted hand clasped down on hers, and she turned in surprise to see Basilisk standing there.

“No.” The Titan slowly said. “I’ve lost enough for two lifetimes. If you go missing, we’re coming for you.” He looked at Koga, who nodded. “I don’t know what you two are talking about, but we’re not leaving anyone behind.”

“Are you going to be okay, Basilisk?” Lisset asked, looking into that faceless helm. There was no reply. Freeing herself from the Exo’s grip, she paced away from the others. “I’ll meet you at the Tower.” She said, before vanishing into transmat, leaving Basilisk and Koga alone at the foot of the Academy. The Warlock looked up at his comrade, studying him.

“What happened to you here, Basilisk?” He asked. The Titan didn’t look at him as he replied.

“The Vex happened.” As he stared out into the distance, he could almost see his team again, from so long ago. Ghosts from a war without end.