Entry 1
I often wonder if I shall be forgotten.
The Iron Lords speak of rebuilding, of uniting the survivors under a single banner, and forging a bastion of hope under the Traveler. A noble and just cause, if there can be such in this world.
It's tempting to think that our fight is as simple as this. Unite the survivors, and take back Earth. For us to have any chance of survival though, we must look further afield. Our enemies circle around us like vultures, using the relative separation of the Sol System to scheme and amass their festering hordes.
If we leave them be, content to hold our single blasted rock, they will be our doom. We must fight back.
Yes, we are weak. Pitiful even. We do not have the resources to take back our worlds. We barely have the strength to hold a single village against our own kin.
Perhaps our situation is impossible then. Perhaps it is our fate to dwindle to extinction. I refuse to be complacent though. I will fight back. For anything less will be failure, to both myself, and my people.
We found a ship that can still fly. It's not much, barely operational and with just enough room for the three of us, but it can cross the great schisms between planets, so it is enough. We set our destination to Venus, the nearest planet. From there, I don't know.
I am writing this because there is no one to witness what comes next. No one to watch our battles, to cheer our victories. I do not seek glory or fame. Such foolishness is shortsighted. If we should fail, I would have a record of our travels, so whomever comes next may learn from our failures, and bear the secrets we uncover.
Perhaps I should hope that we are forgotten. If nobody remembers our departure, then perhaps by the time they follow, our work will already be finished. It would not be such a terrible fate.
I do not know if Kalaira and Mazzil are convinced of our cause, or if they're just looking for some skulls to crush. I'll take them anyway.
My name is Jalla, and this is my story.
Entry 2
Venus is a world still living its rebirth.
Volcanoes belch sulfurous clouds high in the atmosphere, which rain acid down on the land, scouring and eating away the stone, even as the shoulders of new mountains are thrust into the air by the renewed fire below. The jungle covers everything, a pervasive tangle of resilient and vicious flora that has hardened itself to the burning rain, and learned to drink the noxious poison of the groundwater. The Traveler gave this world life, but made that life primal and savage.
We made our camp in the ruins of an old research base, in the jagged hills surrounding Maat Mons. There are ruins here on the far side of the sight, but they were not built by the hands of any man or woman. My Ghost dates them to several billion years old, almost as old as the planet itself. If what that old fool Dust told us was true, then these are the same ruins that have now consumed Mercury. We have come here in search of their architects. They must be stopped, or they will consume us all.
Entry 3
The architects are machines. Tall, clad in bronze metal, and utterly relentless. They attacked us on sight, dropping out of the thin air, and chasing us until every last one of them was destroyed. Their armor was nigh invincible to our bullets, and their weapons burned like the sun. We survived only because they bear a weak spot with no armor on their stomach.
Mazzil salvaged some files from the remains of the station's network. She is still pouring over them as I write this. The scientists of the Ishtar Collective named these machines the "Vex." It's a fitting name.
Entry 4
We fought the Vex again. There were only four of them, three foot soldiers and a sniper, but they fought us to a stand-still for nearly two hours. If we are to fight them, we will need better weapons.
Mazzil accessed one of their information confluxes in the ruins. Her intrusion was what prompted their retaliation. She says she might be able to discern their plans and strategies if we could locate a more central part of their network.
Kalaira broke her knife as she killed the last Vex. For some reason, she blames me for the loss.
Entry 5
Kalaira returned from her morning patrol with a disturbing tale.
The usual circuit she traverses around the perimeter takes her along the rim of a broken cliff-side. There, basking in the first rays of the Venusian sun, she says was a winged serpent. A dragon.
She prudently thought it best to retreat, however, the dragon noticed her as she was leaving.
For a brief time, the dragon regarded at her, then she says it spoke. It asked of her endeavors, and her purpose here on Venus. Her response was to ask after its nature. The creature simply flew away instead of answering.
I do not know if her tale can be trusted. She is not lying, of course, but these ruins, the Vex, they have a strange air about them. Almost as if this place is brushing up against the surface of something vast and beyond our sight. Our faculties cannot be trusted. I should like to find this dragon and see it for myself.
Entry 6
Mazzil has located a sizable confluence. It is some distance away, across the gulf, on the slopes of Sapas Mons. It will be a several day trek out there.
The more we learn about the Vex, the more I am disturbed by their nature. Their network stretches all across the galaxy, and beyond! Mazzil believes they are somehow older than the stars themselves. The ruins are billions of years old, yet only recently placed, as the Vex pull components through time as they are needed. Each planet is converted, bit-by-bit, into a massive computer unto itself.
Their must be a purpose to them, some driving thought behind their unfathomable collective. If we can find it, then perhaps we can stop them from destroying everything.
Entry 7
Our task is an impossible one.
The conflux on Sapas Mons is in the center of a vast stand of ruins, which amounts to a fortress to these machines. It is crawling with them, and when we tried to make an approach, they swarmed us. Mazzil went down, and nearly lost her Ghost. Only thanks Kalaira's quick actions is she still alive.
There is no hope of success. The Vex know we are coming. If we try to breach the fortress again, they will kill us. Three warriors, with rusted weapons, flimsy armor, and strange powers we barely understand, are not enough to take on a legion of indestructible Vex.
We need something more. We need an edge.
Entry 8
Today was troubling.
We returned to the camp today to find the dragon waiting. We immediately raised our weapons, but the dragon did not attack us. It simply spoke briefly, then left.
It spoke of power and gifts, and said it could show us how to defeat the Vex. I immediately asked why we should trust the creature. In response, it said that we would be fools to trust it, and that we must come to trust it in time.
As I write this, dusk fades from the sky, and night approaches, I worry what sleep will bring. Will this creature return to ravage us in the night? Kalaira has insisted on keeping watch. I only hope she can give us ample warning.
Entry 9
The night passed without incident. For that I am relieved.
Mazzil has set about locating other confluences we might be able to use against the Vex. That in itself is not difficult, as the machines have spread over much of the planet. Finding one that is unguarded though, is another challenge.
Entry 10
The acid rains are starting to take a toll on our ship. We moved it to a cave to keep it sheltered from the elements.
Entry 11
Our supplies are beginning to run low. We use the station's old filtering device to purify rainwater, but our food supply is dwindling. Kalaira and I will seek out what sources we can find. The jungles of Venus are dangerous to us, we do not know what is and isn't safe to eat. I suppose having a drone that can resurrect you has its advantages.
Entry 12
The dragon returned today. It asked after us, and wanted to know if our expedition is progressing well. We declined to answer.
Entry 13
We ate the last of our rations today. Kalaira located a grove of trees that bear a fruit that, while not poisonous, is absolutely revolting in taste and consistency.
Entry 14
Mazzil finished her research today. She has reviewed all the data we pulled from the ruins, and has concluded that any conflux on Venus that would suit our purpose is at the center of a Vex stronghold.
I am beginning to worry about our future. Our supplies are dwindling rapidly. If we do not make progress with the Vex soon, we will be forced to return to Earth. I suspect Kalaira is beginning to resent her decision to accompany. Perhaps she feels her time would be better spent fighting petty warlords. Perhaps she is right.
Entry 15
The dragon confronted us again. It spoke to us of the challenge of fighting the Vex. Clearly, it somehow knew of our purpose all along. It says it can show us how to build weapons that would annihilate entire legions of the machines. It also insisted it could teach us some of the Vex's secrets, so we would have an advantage if we choose to strike at them again.
I do not know why, but I am beginning to trust this creature.
Entry 16
Mazzil and I intended to seek out the dragon today. When Kalaira discovered this, she descended on us in a flurry of anger. After a protracted argument, she stalked out of camp, demanding to be alone.
She returned some hours later. Upon confronting her, she declared that she had been visited by the dragon on her walk, and was now convinced that we are right to seek its consul.
Entry 17
At sunset, we met the dragon on the ridge. It gave us a description of materials we will need to build weapons that can destroy the Vex. To Mazzil, it gave the coordinates of an archive containing the sum of the Ishtar Collective's research on the Vex.
As our conference concluded, Kalaira demanded to know the price of the dragon's wisdom. The dragon calmly replied that the only price of knowledge is the knowledge itself. Our discourse concluded, it spread its wings and flew into the burning sunset.
Entry 18
Mazzil retrieved the archive, and now we are riding our jumpship back to Earth, where we will restock our supplies and fortify the ship for longer flights. After that, our destination is the Luna, our Earth's closest companion.
Entry 19
We landed on the Sea of Clouds. The land here is truly desolate. Though there is a phantom atmosphere, the Traveler never gave life to this barren world, leaving it instead to our own exploration.
The ground is rent open in some places, and glows with fell ghost light. On the dragon's instructions, we sought out one of the larger rents, and called out the Darkness that nested there. From the shadows spilt a hideous, screaming horde of monsters, so numerous they coated the floor of the crater. Standing above them all was a creature of golden bone and hatred. It its had was a wicked cleaver.
For hours we fought the horde. Wave after wave came for us. We cut then down in droves, and after our ammo ran out, we fought them with fists and Light.
When at last we cut down the last of the horde, the monster himself came forward and challenged us. Despite us having the advantage in numbers, he killed each of us several times before we finally brought him down.
The monster's body burned away as he died, and only his great cleaver remained. Mazzil seared the sword with her Light. After all the bone and rot and lesser alloys were burned away, only a few flakes of lustrous silver metal remained.
The dragon called this metal hadium, and it is the reason we have come to the moon. When it exposed to the right forces, it resonates with energy across dimensions. If we are to forge weapons out of it, we will need more. Much more.
Entry 20
We have been fighting this festering Hive for three weeks now. Over and over we challenged their champions, and claimed their weapons as our prize. By my count, we have slain 18 of these bone monsters, and amassed nearly a kilogram of hadium. With this metal, we will craft new weapons for our mechanisms, so they resonate across the Vex's fractal networks.
The next leg of our journey will be the most difficult. We must venture into the deep black, hours from even the xenophobic Reef. Our destination is Jupiter, and the volatile world held in its bosom.
Entry 21
After many difficulties, we touched down on Io today. Along the way, we were accosted by Fallen, harried by the Awoken, and nearly pulverized by the magnetic storms of Jupiter's great radiation belts. It will take some days to repair our ship.
This barren moon is the last place the Traveler touched with its light. The landscape is startling and empty, its empty planes and hills a sharp contrast to the vivid hues that paint the bedrock. There are huddled groves of trees in some sheltered coves. Already, they are beginning to wither away. Starved of the Traveler's life as the moon fades.
Our reason for coming lies in the ground itself. While the Traveler terraformed the land surged with its volatile energy. This is not Light. Indeed, it's something far more pure and unrefined.
Traces of the energy now reside in the ground water. The dragon described it as 'paracausal,' beyond the simple limitations of our laws of physics. It is with this essence that we will break through the Vex's networks.
Entry 22
Today is Mazzil's turn to work on the ship. I took the reprieve as a chance to meditate on the hissing silence of this haunting place.
I hiked along a ridge for a while, circling a great crater in the ground. Down in the center lies the pedestal upon which the Traveler rested as it embraced the moon. After a while, I came to a place where the rocky shoulders fell away, and a lush valley of silvery green trees grew with vigor.
A creek burbled through the valley. I drank of its water. It was cool and fresh, and filled me with a sense of peace.
I meditated in a clearing for a while, until the wilted sun shrank on the horizon and the shadows grew long. I reluctantly tore myself away from the forest, and returned to our camp in the oasis.
Entry 23
Finally, we are ready to leave this place. Part of me wishes to stay here amongst the silence, but we mustn't linger. Every day, the machines extend their reach. They even have begun to gnaw at the edges of Io. We must return to Venus and strike at their heart.
Our spoils are a crate of flasks containing water soaked in the Traveler's power. Exposing a bullet to this while on contact with hadium will imbue it with paracausal resonances. Now we prepare to make the penultimate leg of our journey
Entry 24
The russet dunes of Mars stretch from horizon to horizon, broken by jagged scars of stone. We stand on the slopes of Olympus Mons, but you would never know it. The slope of this grand mount is too shallow to see.
We search for old outposts of the Clovis Bray group. They contain the remaining parts we need to craft our weapons. Finding them will be difficult, as information is now scarce.
Entry 25
Our journey has brought us to the Simund Chasm. Deep in its shadows, we finally found a cache that was not disturbed by the brutish Cabal. Finally, we can return to Venus and craft our weapons.
Entry 26
Our first attempt at building a weapon is satisfactory. We rebuilt an old hunting rifle with a hadium firing pin, and a small vial of Traveler-infused water. The result is powerful, if unfocused. Each round tears a hole through the air. We need it to be more precise.
Entry 27
We are now ready to begin. We now have an arsenal infused with the Traveler's power, and our skirmishes with Vex scouts have proven them to be very effective. Now we shall return to Sapas Mons, hopefully to better results than last time.
Entry 28
The battle was a resounding success. Wherever our bullets struck, they rent the machines apart, and caused a drunken stupor in any nearby units. The Traveler's power disrupts the weft and weave of their programing. The dragon was right. These weapons are more than enough to defeat the machines.
Mazzil studied the confluence at the heart of the ruins of Sapas Mons. She says it is more complicated and revealing than she could have anticipated. Yet, it gives us only the faintest glimmer of their greater purpose. To determine that, we will need access more nodes in their network.
Entry 29
Our next destination was the island of Irnini Mons. A large Vex tower stands near the center of the island. We stormed it with relative ease. Mazzil tells me the nodes form a vast pattern, encompassing the entire planet. She believes that, given enough data, she can find the center.
Entry 30
The dragon approached us on Irnini Mons. It asked after the effectiveness of our weapons. We told him that they destroy the Vex with impunity. He was pleased.
He spoke to each of us, alone, at some length. I do not know what he spoke to Mazzil and Kalaira, and I have not told them of my conversation. By their nature, these conversations are better left unspoken.
I cannot readily describe our discourse here. Suffice to say, we spoke about our goals against the Vex, and the cost we bear with them. I think I am finally beginning to understand.
Entry 31
As our campaign against the Vex progresses, we draw closer and closer to their heart. Mazzil has begun to believe it lies somewhere on Ishtar, the northern continent. We will go there after we are finished on Aphrodite.
Countless Vex have fallen at our feet. With each battle, they throw more and greater constructs at us. We deny them always.
I am beginning to feel a strange familiarity with them. We have been fighting so long, it almost feels like I should know them. Their minds are vast and inscrutable. Could they ever be known?
Entry 32
We landed on Ishtar today. It is like Aphrodite in many ways, only it is slightly less hot. Now our war begins anew.
Entry 33
Some of the Vex here are different. Their metallic skin is gold instead of bronze. Mazzil says they are a protective algorithm, where as the others are corrective. This is a sign that we are close.
Entry 34
All our findings point towards a single location in the middle of a continent, on the border of the great sink. Kalaira scouted the area and reported a great Vex citadel, adjacent to the ruins of the old Ishtar Accademy. She said she could not escape the sense of something inscrutable watching her.
Entry 35
We found a great vault door today. Mazzil believes it to be the entrance to an entire underworld, a vast labyrinth where the Vex have bled the veils between realities thin. Deep at its heart is a living confluence of time and space. This is what we have been searching for this past year.
The ruins here do indeed have a sense of wakefulness. We made our camp at the edge, yet none of us could sleep. The whispering silence was too loud.
Entry 36
This is an ending of sorts.
This morning, as the sun broke the noxious clouds on the horizon, the dragon approached us a final time. It confirmed what we already suspected. Should we fail or succeed in our quest, once we enter the vault, there will be no return.
We seek to enter the vault, and pierce the veils of its inner purpose. At its heart lies the focus of the Vex efforts across Venus. If we but only touch upon it, we can glimpse the greater Vex pattern, and perhaps subtly reshape its grain.
If we should fail, we will be erased from time, consumed by the vault.
If we should fail, we will transcend this realm, and pass into the swirling infinities beyond.
We took three days to contemplate our decision.
Mazzil meditated upon the ruins, and within and hour, knew her choice.
Kalaira set out along the coast, underneath the boiling sky and caustic rain. She came to her decision on the dawn of the third day.
I myself flew our ship back to Earth. There, in the stark ruins of the Cosmodrome, I was reminded of what we once were, and what we could be. A people who look up at night, and dream of visiting the stars. The Vex have no place for that dream.
They must be stopped, and we are the only ones who can do it.
However, should our people face the Vex again, I would not have them go against the terrors unarmed. I tore apart my journal, and scattered the pages across the worlds we visited. Many years from now, an enterprising soul might stumble across the papers, and through them, have the blueprint to our weapons. At the end of the trail, I also left our first prototype, so they might have a model from which to start. It is a powerful weapon it its own right.
I suppose this move was motivated in part by my own vanity. Anyone who reads the story of the weapon will also know my story. Thus, I ensure we will not be forgotten.
Today, the three of us will meet before the great door of the vault. Within, we shall seek our fate.
The page these words are written upon I left in the camp on the slopes of Maat Mons. If you are reading this, know that I wish you luck.
Remember us.