[i]I hate killing the Vex. There’s just something so…inhuman about them. When you fight the Fallen, the Cabal, hell even the Hive, you know that what you’re killing is alive and kicking until the very moment you burst open its skull with a couple of bullets. The Vex though…there just isn’t anything in them. They are the very epitome of what it means to be a machine: cold, heartless, calculating. I know many Guardians get on me for not even technically being alive, but compared to them, I’m practically human.[/i] Lazarus’s body burst alight in the darkness, wings of fire spreading behind him. At that moment he appeared to look like a monstrous dragon rearing its wings, before it opened its maw to rain the fires of hell among its adversaries. The Warlock opened his hand, and a sphere of molten light began to coalesce in his palm, as bright as any star in the sky. Lazarus hefted it between his fingers and lobbed it into the air. As it touched the ground, it shattered into a kaleidoscope of reds, oranges, greens, and blues, before a gout of flame burst forth into the sky and settled into a wall of fire that blocked the approach of any oncoming Vex. With an eerie roar, the Vex army aimed there weapons, and a thunderous blast of energy hit the blazing wall like a tidal wave. With a profound BOOM, the air around the Vex exploded into purple smoke, but as the dust settled, they cried out again as the wall of fire remained standing. “You had better hurry up,” grunted Lazarus. “I can’t hold this wall forever.” “Got it!” announced Tempest, and the Vex portal finally came alight. Without warning, a purple cloud began to form above the three Guardians, and out dropped: five half-melted Vex. Only one, a Minotaur, had enough of its body so that it didn’t’ collapse completely, but its body quickly evaporated once Jadis had kicked it into the roaring wall of fire. The Hunter looked incredulous. “How did you-“ “Long story,” gasped Lazarus. “But this wall is about to come down! TEMPEST!!” “The portal is stable.” He replied. “Let’s get off this rock.” Jadis dived headfirst into the Vex gate, with Lazarus following close behind. Tempest readied himself, but looked back once more before shaking his head softly and stepping into the portal. As the portal disappeared, the wall of fire began to dissipate, leaving a blackened line across the earth, marking where it stood opposing the army of Vex behind it. If Vex could look upset, they would look like them. *** Many people, both survivors from the Wilderness and Guardians alike, immediately think of the Buried City whenever they hear any mention of Mars. The unknown technological wonders that still dwell beneath the sandy depths of these ruins is one of the few reasons Guardians even bother to travel out to Mars in the first place, because it certainly isn’t for the neighbors…or the weather. The three Guardians were currently hunkered down in a cave on the edge of the Scablands, holding out from the ravenous sandstorm that raged outside. Driving Sparrows was next to impossible unless you wanted to be blown off and be buried in sand dune. Even the sand alone would destroy a Guardian’s sensor, and it could even breach your helmet’s ventilation system, leaving one drowning in sand. It was better to just sit tight and wait out the storm. Jadis didn’t like sitting still. She liked moving, being in the action, because when she wasn’t moving she wasn’t doing anything, and when she wasn’t doing anything she would be bored, and when she was bored her mind started to drift, and her mind would always drift back to- “David. Who is he?” Lazarus had asked the question as nonchalantly as he could, but looking at Jadis and Tempest, he realized now may not have been the best time. Tempest sighed. “You’re going to have to tell him eventually, and you might as well know how it really happened.” Jadis tried to stare daggers at the Warlocks, but she realized it was no use, and gave in. “David and I both woke up in the European Dead Zone. Not together, but we found each other while fleeing from the Fallen. We tried to escape, but neither of our Ghosts could find a working ship. We would’ve died fighting those things, if a Guardian hadn’t shown up and gotten us out. He even killed all of the Fallen too… *** [i]Eleven Years Ago…[/i] Jadis pulled the bolt back on the rifle and fired another round at the oncoming Vandal. The bullet made a wet SMACK as it punched through its chestplate. The Vandal staggered back, holding a hand to its stomach as it wheezed out another puff of ether from its broken breathing apparatus. Jadis tried to pull back the bolt to chamber another round, but it got stuck halfway. “Damn it, not again!” The Vandal, noticing her sudden hesitation, leveled a shock pistol and fired a burst at its adversary. The arc rounds nearly tore through her overshield, making her teeth clatter. She could even smell her new clothes burning; again. Before the Vandal could fire again, Jadis pulled out a knife from her belt and chucked straight it straight at the Vandal. It landed perfectly in the center of its head, and the Vandal went down in a burst of ether. Jadis ducked behind the doorway of a crumbling building, waiting to see if she had any other pursuers. When she could hear birds chirping again, she released the air that had been pent up in her lungs. The Hunter had only woken up a few hours before. Her Ghost, as it called itself, had told her that she wouldn’t remember much, if at all. A single name, Jadis, came to her as she was strangling a Dreg scout. She assumed it was hers, and she decided to keep it. As she had crept, crouched, and killed through what her Ghost had called “the European Dead Zone”, she had found only found five knives and old, battered down hunting rifle she had taken from the body of a deceased Hunter. Now, she had lost three of her knives, and the rifle was not only slow to fire, but it jammed. A lot. Jadis disassembled the gun, fixing the bolt and cleaning the insides as best as she could with the raggedy scarf tied around her neck. She put the rifle back together and chambered a round from one of her few remaining magazines. She set the rifle next to her, and breathed in the slightly recycled air from inside her helmet. According to her Ghost, the European Dead Zone was a deathtrap. It was a twisting maze of decrypt and shattered buildings, ready to topple at the urge of a slight gust of wind. Guardians had apparently been running some Crucible skirmishes a few months ago…before the area became swarmed with Fallen troops. Some say they saw a Ketch flying over the Zone before taking shelter behind a nearby mountain range, hidden to all but those who dared to oppose the Fallen forces nearby. Right now though, Jadis just wanted to get out, get something to eat, take a nap…and figure out who she was before she died all those years ago. As she was getting to her feet she heard soft padding just outside the open doorway. She held her breath, and merely listened. It was too light to be any of the Fallen enemies she had experienced. Even Vandals didn’t move that silently…and they never traveled alone. Jadis didn’t know what this thing was, but she had to get rid of it…before it came back for her later. She picked up the rile nesting at her side as quietly as she could, and then rolled out from behind cover. She landed in a crouch, her rifle aimed straight at the head of her mysterious adversary, finger poised on the trigger. Whoever he (it looked like a he) was, he was no slouch either. He had seemed to sense her presence as well, since his gun, which was bulkier and stockier than Jadis’s, was aimed straight at her forehead. He seemed to be wearing a thin bodysuit similar to hers, although the design of his helmet was much different. Even with her nerves on fire and her blood saturated with adrenaline, Jadis lowered her rifle in amazement. Standing in front of her, was another Guardian. [i]Link to Chapter Index [/i] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/116093772/0/0 [b]Continue on to Chapter 10[/b] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/159831354