[i]“If we’re going to find the Black Garden, We need to see the Awoken.”[/i] [b]Meanwhile, elsewhere in the system . . .[/b] “They didn’t make it . . .” Rei felt the remorse in Ghost’s words. She dropped her head from the scope and rested it on her forearm. She felt the muscles in her neck pull, stiff from lying prone behind her rifle for so long. She laid there and let the cold-red-Martian wind travel through the cloak on her back. After a very long minute, she lifted her head and peered back down the scope. She saw the Goliaths hovering around the collapsed canyon wall. Rei had felt confident when the Guardians handled the first three tanks, and she thought the mission was still possible when they started on the next eight. But after the Cabal dropped several more in on the flanks, the fireteam was forced to retreat and had been boxed into a cave; the Cabal brought it down on their heads. And they were still firing, annihilating the entire rock formation from the face of the planet. Rei laid quietly and watched the whole thing. She kept her voice low as she reported, “This is recon 3, fireteam bravo is down, repeat fireteam bravo is down.” She paused before adding, “No survivors.” She knew Ghost would be transmitting to the mission commander. There was a bitter taste in her mouth. Blood. She had bitten the inside of her cheek raw; a nervous habit from before the Light. She felt Ghost’s mental pang of annoyance as he began healing her cheek. She had been frustrated by her orders, “Observe and report, no contact.” Her finger had strayed to the trigger at least a dozen times during the encounter, only Ghost’s reminders kept her on mission. “Copy recon 3, we’ve received your Ghost’s data. Disengage from Zone C and head to the secondary advanced staging area.” The mechanical voice of Ave–8 was curt and gave no indication on her mood or the fate of the other fireteams. The remaining tanks had stopped firing and the legionnaires were moving in to inspect the rubble. Rei trained her scope on the squad as they shifted stones and moved aside small pieces of debris. “Mission Control, how were the rest of the incursions into the exclusion zone?” She kept the edge out of her voice, maintaining the detached demeanor that most hunters wore in wild. There was mild static over the coms, Rei knew Ave-8 was handling several other teams and her question was prioritized down. A single legionnaire knelt down and retrieved something from the rubble. He marched back to the tanks, where a Valus emerged from behind the armor. He was big, a hulking figure with a massive shield. He wore a large square helmet with a think heavy lid. The legionnaire offered up the object and placed it in the commander’s palm. Ave-8 finally responded. “The incursion at Zone A was halted. As we thought, the Meridian Bay is too heavily guarded. The Cabal are keeping the area reinforced to fight off some form of Vex presence. Zone B has been cleared and fireteam Bravo is proceeding up the old superhighway. Expect a redeployment to support their advance.” Rei suddenly had a clear view of the object in the commander’s hand. It was a dead Ghost: pink, with a wide front panel. Its light had gone out. She adjusted her scope, focusing on the Valus. “Any survivors from fireteam alpha?” She asked. The Valus began to address his soldiers, holding the little pink dot between two large fingers in his free hand. The Cabal began to cheer, thrusting their guns into the air. Rei could hear their roars in the distance, throaty calls just louder than the wind. “Affirmative Recon 3.” Rei felt Ghost’s concern. She knew he was worried. “Rei, You don’t need to—“ She cut him off. “How many?” There was a pause, almost unnoticed, but audible in the magnitude of suggestion. “Just one, recon 3.” Rei watched the scene a thousand yards away, not really seeing anything in clarity. She hoped George-4 was ok. Ghost took the initiative and responded, “We’re on our way, Command. Over and out.” Ghost was silent for a few moments. She knew he was giving her time to level out emotionally. His calm voice entered her mind, firm but reassuring, “We should leave.” Suddenly, the Valus sweezed his fingers together and the pair watched him crush the little pink light to dust. The cheers roared louder and echoed off the rocky canyons below. Rei’s finger was on the trigger before she could think. She fired twice; the first shot tore through the great giant’s fingers, ripping them from his hand. The second into the head of the legionnaire who had picked up the ghost. His helmet shattered, and the gas escaped from his suit—venting blood and brain with it. Rei had jumped down the back of the high stone mesa and was already racing across the dunes by the time the Cabal had recovered from the surprise. She heard the Goliath tanks’ indiscriminate shelling over the hum of her sparrow’s engine. And—she felt Ghost’s presence in her mind, processing some thought that she couldn’t interpret. Was he angry at her? Rei knew it was risky exposing herself by firing, and dangerous to attack the cabal without backup; she didn’t want to admit that however. Rei didn’t know what to say, and the unspoken emotion worried her. “They shouldn’t have touched that ghost.” She explained. She felt her justification wasn’t enough, and at the same time felt it was all she needed to say. Ghost surprised her when he said, “No, they shouldn’t have.” Rei heard the quiet anger in his voice and understood. Even beings born in the light can feel rage. “And next time,” he continued, regaining some of his calm, “they’ll think twice.” She smiled, and curved gracefully around a collapsed pile of rocks. Rei felt the wind tug her hood off and made no attempt to correct it. The red desert stretched out before them, miles in every direction. One more mote of light, one more grain in a desert, one more chapter in Destiny. [b]Next week: Exclusion Zone Part II: Curiosity.[/b]