Telysa found Linvana at the top of the old Tower.
Linvana was gone when she woken up, which in itself was unusual, since Telysa was typically the light sleeper.
They'd spent the night in their quarters, which was little more that a freshly swept metal box with two cots pushed together in the corner. It was one of hundreds of identical compartments within the City wall. The Vanguard designated them as temporary Guardian housing, while the people of the City reclaimed their home.
Telysa's package from Banshee was waiting at the door, as well as a paper note in Lin's handwriting, saying she'd gone for a walk. Telysa climbed the stairs to the top of the wall and walked along the edge. The sun had not yet risen, and a thick fog blanketed the City below. The top of the Traveler was just visible above the fog. The banks of clouds swirled and ebbed, moved by an unseen hand.
The Traveler was awake. Four days later, she still barely believed it. It was all so surreal. Everything had changed, yet no one knew exactly how yet.
She reached Lin's favorite spot on the wall, a hidden little courtyard in one of the residential blocks. A single tree grew in the center, its branches filling the space. One side overlooked the misted City. With the onset of autumn weather, the leaves on the tree had begun to turn burnt orange.
There was another note tucked between the cobblestones in the corner. It had only two words written on it, but Telysa knew what they meant.
I'm upstairs.
She continued along the wall until she reached the old Tower. It loomed over her, its sides scarred and blackened, though the worst of the damage wasn't visible from here. The entrance was blocked with a safety banner informing readers that the Tower was closed. Telysa ignored it and slipped underneath.
The corridors were dark and gloomy, but Telysa knew them like the back of her hand. She navigated her way to the south stairwell. That section had taken the least damage during the attack.
She lost track of the floors as she climbed. At one point, Azul informed her that Zavala had requested them back in the courtyard. She acknowledged it and kept going. It felt strange to walk through the deserted Tower she'd called home for so long. Her footsteps were the only sound in the gray twilight.
Finally, she reached the top. The stairwell opened in to a corridor that was clogged with debris. One direction was completely blocked, so she chose the other one and crawled over the rubble. After squeezing through a particularly tight gap, she tumbled down a short incline and emerged back into the open air.
She inhaled sharply as she took in her surroundings. The plaza was still a beautiful place, only now, it was sad and broken.
She'd emerged from a small maintenance corridor behind the old Gunsmith station. She smiled, remembering the many lectures on proper field maintenance Banshee had given her here. Now it was half-buried with rubble. The old twisted tree was a charred stump. Yet more debris blocked the way to the Traveler's walk.
The work crews hadn't even begun cleaning up yet. They were all down in the City, where they had hundreds, if not thousands of destroyed buildings to dismantle. It would be many months yet before they got to the Tower.
She crossed the plaza, making her way to the north corner opposite. Some sections of the ground were roped off, marking places where the floor was in danger of collapsing. She avoided those. Yes, her Ghost meant there was little actual danger, but that didn't really make impaling herself on a tangle of rebar fun.
The balcony that once overlooked the northern end of the plaza had partially collapsed, forming a ramp. Telysa walked to the top - it seemed mostly stable - and there she was.
Linvana sat at the end of the balcony, arms wrapped around her legs, the wind ruffling her mop of gorgeous red hair. She wasn't wearing her armor, though she did have her mark belted to her waist. A gray backpack rested on the balcony beside her.
She looked up as Telysa approached, her amber eyes shining in the soft morning light. "Hey," she said quietly, moving over to make room.
"Hey," Telysa said back. She sat down and clasped Lin's hand. Lin smiled and leaned her head against Tel's shoulder.
The view was absolutely stunning. Below them, the City still lay cloaked in fog, rendering its broken streets and crumbled high-rises gray and indistinct. Pieces of the Traveler's shell danced in the mist, stirring the delicate banks of clouds. And above it all, the top of the Traveler glowed amber in the first rays of the sun.
They didn't speak. They didn't need to. They knew each other well enough to read exactly what their partner felt. Maybe that was what love was. Sitting beside each other, caressed by the chill breeze…neither of them could feel more content.
The vivid colors leached away as the day dawned. The Traveler faded from golden to white. Finally, the sun peaked over the edge of the distant mountains, and light sparkled across the Last City. The mists shone with the new day.
Linvana finally broke the silence.
"We failed, Tel."
An uncomfortable sensation twisted in her stomach. The clouds below obscured the numerous craters and broken buildings. Places where thousands of civilians had died.
Telysa looked away and squeezed her wife's hand. "I know Lin."
"They still don't have the final count," Lin said quietly, "It was up to four-hundred thousand this morning. They've started digging mass graves in the outskirts."
Telysa closed her eyes and exhaled.
"There's still over a thousand Guardians missing," Linvana continued, "Almost everyone who was out on patrol is unaccounted for."
"We can't survive another attack like this," Telysa said quietly, "If we fail again, it will be the end of us. For good."
Linvana nodded. "Things have to change. We can't just sit here anymore, waiting for our enemies to make the first move. We have to be out there, taking the fight to them."
"Is that a yes then?"
"It is. When do you want to leave?"
"Once Zavala approves the requisition, we can have everything loaded up by this afternoon."
"Good. Have you heard from the others yet?" Linvana asked.
"Elva wants to come with us," Tel said, "Brontis agreed with our idea, and requested a deployment on Nessus. Mariel and Damien are going back to Saturn. Dellander, Ulaina, and Cannard are staying here for now."
"Well, I suppose some of us have to stay behind. Help rebuild." Linvana stood up, slipped her satchel over her shoulder, and offered her hand. Telysa accepted it.
"Oh, before I forget," Telysa said as Lin pulled her to her feet. "Our housing assignment came while you were gone. And Zavala wants to see us afterwards."
Linvana smiled weakly. "I guess we should check it out before we go."
They followed the address to a segment of the wall a short ways north of the new courtyard. Like many sections of the wall, a residential block of apartments had been built on the top.
"These hardly look like military quarters," Linvana noted as they climbed the stairs. The walls were decorated with swirling abstract earth tones, and a communal table and two chairs sat outside each landing. It was a living space, not a barracks. The address led them to the northeast corner of the top floor.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Linvana asked as they stopped in front of the furthest door
"Positive," Azul said, appearing by Telysa's side. He unlocked the door and vanished again. Linvana pushed on it, and it swung open.
The room beyond was airy and bright. Early morning sunlight spilt through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the right-hand side. The walls were pale goldenrod in color. A simple double bed was pushed up against the left wall, next to a door that led to a small bathroom. The far wall was made of more windows, and a door that opened onto a small wrought iron balcony.
"These aren't quarters," Telysa remarked, "This is an apartment."
Linvana walked into the studio and examined it as Telysa trailed behind. "It's nice," the Titan said, "very nice."
"Well, perhaps now that we saved the City, we should settle down and bask in our victory a while," Telysa said.
They shared a look and burst out laughing. Lin ruefully shook her head. "I get what Zavala's doing here, but there isn't time for rest. The war's only just begun."
"I suppose we're done here then?" Telysa asked.
"Yep. Let's head back to the courtyard. I need to stop by the Bazaar though."
When they reached the marketplace, Linvana pushed through the morning crowd and jogged up the stairs, to the balcony that served as Suraya Hawthorne's 'office.'
Telysa leaned in the archway as Linvana spoke with the Hawthorne. Tan skin, simple features, and dark hair, the woman looked deeply uncomfortable in the vicinity of so many people. Telysa sympathized.
After a few quiet words, Hawthorne handed Linvana a strip of dark blue cloth. That concluded the exchange, and Linvana walked back towards Telysa, cloth in hand.
"What do you think?" Linvana asked, presenting it to Telysa.
The cloth was a hand-span wide and about two feet long, adorned by a minimalist desigh. At the bottom, the blue represented the sea, out of which triangular gray mountains rose. Behind them, the sky was stained orange, which gradually faded back to the dark blue background. Above the mountains was a single point of light. The Dawnstar.
"It looks nice," Telysa answered, "What's it for?"
"It's a clan banner," Linvana said, folding the cloth.
"Clan banner?"
"Yeah. I registered Dawnstar as a clan."
She tucked the folded cloth into her belt, beside the mismatched tassels of her mark. The various strips of cloth included an ancient, frayed Sunbreaker's mark, a torn red scarf with a serpent and lion embroidered on top, and a small ochre strip of cloth with a simple geometric design. Knowing Lin, she intended to add the banner to the growing collection.
"What did you go and do that for?" Telysa asked, following Linvana down the stairs.
"Well, when Dawnstar came together, we didn't really plan on becoming a fireteam," Linvana explained, "Yeah, I'd entertained the idea of finding someone to work with, but we only got together because of Crota. We don't really function as a team, and unless there's some looming crisis, there's rarely more than four or five of us in the same place. This just works better administratively. Less paperwork for the Tower management."
"Huh," Telysa mumbled. It made sense, but calling themselves a clan just sounded weird. Eh. Whatever.
They crossed the bazaar, turned down the hallway, and climbed the stairs leading to the courtyard.
"Still not sure why people call this place a tower," Telysa remarked as they entered the courtyard. "It's really just a section of the wall."
"They're looking for something familiar to latch on to," Linvana said, "We've all lost so much. I guess it helps them cope if they pretend things are the way they used to be."
"Huh," Telysa said, giving Lin a sideways glance.
"What?" Linvana demanded.
"Nothing. It's just…ever since your little day trip to Mercury, you've been more…thoughtful. Understanding."
Linvana cocked her head. "I…I realized that, as we're fighting and struggling, we pay to little attention to the world around us. So now I try to see what I'm missing."
The balcony Zavala sometimes stood on was empty. "He's downstairs," one of the security guards said, motioning to the door tucked behind the postmaster.
The door was at the top of a short flight of stairs, which deposited them in a dim industrial hallway. Light came from a nearby doorway.
The new Vanguard Tactical Command was a sparse, boxy room. The space was dominated by a low table with a map of the Sol system laid over it. Several datapads were scattered across the table. The bare concrete walls were unadorned, and harsh white diodes hung from the ceiling.
Zavala was leaning over the table, brows knotted as he scanned a scout report. He straightened as soon as they entered.
"Ah, Captain, Hunter. Just the two Guardians I wished to see."
"Sir," Linvana said, snapping to attention. Telysa stood a little later and scratched the back of her neck.
"At ease," Zavala said. He leafed through a stack of datapads, selected a particular one, and stepped around the table. "I hope you find your new accommodations satisfactory."
Linvana bit her lip, and Telysa glanced away. "The apartment is uh, very nice sir."
"Good," he said, not noticing their awkward postures. He stopped in front of them and held the datapad up. "Your deeds in defense of the City are nothing short of remarkable. Hunter Telysa. For five years, you traversed the wilds, without a fireteam or backup, tracking down and executing some of our most notorious enemies.
"And Captain Linvana. In less than three years, you have led numerous operations whose success is the only reason we are here today. The House of Devils. Time's Confluence. The Splicers. Two Hive gods. And, most recently, you spearheaded the assault that liberated our home from the Red Legion. You and your team are a rare breed of Guardians, who will be remembered alongside the likes of Saint-14 and Jaren Ward."
Well he certainly was laying it on thick. Beside Telysa, Linvana was blushing. Any more, and she might start floating.
"Which is why," the Vanguard Commander continued, handing Linvana the datapad. "I'm giving the two of you promotions."
Telysa glanced over Lin's shoulder as the Titan skimmed the missive.
"Telysa. With our attention increasingly directed towards the outer system, our resources are spread too thin to effectively monitor the inner planets. I want you to take command our scouts in the inner system and establish a robust intelligence network to supplement Ikora's Hidden.
"Linvana. With Sloane's attention focused on the Jovians, I find myself in need of a second deputy to coordinate efforts closer to home. I'd like you to be that Guardian. What do say?"
"I uh," Linvana mumbled. She met Telysa's eyes, and Telysa nodded. Linvana turned back to Zavala. "We're flattered sir. This is a very prestigious offer, but I'm afraid we're going to have to decline."
Zavala visibly deflated. Telysa immediately felt a stab of guilt for turning him down so brusquely.
"I realize this is a rather sudden move," he said, "and I apologize for that. And I understand if you would like some time to think this over. But we are recovering form the most devastating attack in the history of the City, and we need to reestablish our presence in this system as quickly as possible. I cannot afford to leave these positions vacant."
"It's not that we need time to think," Telysa explained, "We've actually thought about this quite a bit, and have an idea of our own."
Zavala frowned. "I've only just informed you of this offer. How can you have already made up your minds?"
"Cayde told me last night," Telysa admitted, "and when you called us here, we guessed you had something similar in mind for Lin. Since the attack though, we've had a lot of time to think about what went wrong, and we think we have a more flexible solution."
Linvana produced a datapad from her backpack and handed it to Zavala.
"We can't go back to doing things the way we did," Linvana explained as he scanned the proposal. "If we only react to our enemies' moves, like we did with the Cabal, we're just asking to get hammered. Once we discover a threat, it can take hours, days even to organize a proper strike mission. Even at our strongest, we were too confined to Earth to properly monitor the other worlds of the system, where our enemies are the strongest."
Zavala finished reading the datapad and looked up. "A proposal for the establishment of a forwards operating base on Mars, designation 'Rangers' Den.'"
"We got the idea from Sloane and Shaxx sir," Linvana said, "With control of the Siren's Watch on Titan, we now have a central position from which we can monitor the whole Saturn system. Our position is far more secure than before, when we just rotated patrols through the Dreadnaught. We want to try something similar on Mars, and eventually, every other planet. Guardians could resupply at the outpost without having to fly all the way back to Earth. Also, if an emergency should arise, we could reach any point on Mars in less than an hour."
"We've already found a secure location we can use," Telysa continued, "There's a ravine in the Claritas highlands. It's cloaked from the air by the local Vex ruins, and its remote and highly defensible from the ground."
"I remember when Shaxx originally proposed converting Crucible arenas into operating bases," Zavala said thoughtfully, "The Consensus deemed it a waste of resources."
"That's why we've come to you sir," Linvana said, "Shaxx had to go through the Consensus because he doesn't have the authority to sanction tactical operations. You do. You could appoint me as captain of Vanguard operations on Mars, and Telysa as planetary scout leader. We would be your eyes, ears, and brain on Mars."
"This would be a test of sorts," Telysa added, "We'll establish a secure position on Mars. Our Striker, Brontis, will go to Nessus to scout out suitable locations for an outpost and establish contact with Cayde's senior scout there. Our Nightstalker and Stormcaller will go to Saturn to provide Sloane with additional expertise against the Hive."
"You clearly have put a good deal of thought into this," Zavala said, "A change of protocol certainly has its merits." He set the datapad down and leaned on the table, his expression distant and unreadable.
"The loss of the City was not your failure, it was mine," he said after a moment, "As leader of the City's defenses, I was trusted to counter any threats to the wellbeing of our people. In this I failed utterly." He tapped the datapad several times and handed it back to Linvana. "Your proposal is approved. As these last few weeks have shown, I am clearly not qualified to protect this City on my own. Prove me you can do better."
Linvana took the datapad back. "Thank you sir. We'll be ready to leave this afternoon."
"Excellent," Zavala said, "I suppose you are dismissed then. Though perhaps it would be better for us all if you were in command."
Linvana smiled, blushing slightly, "I'm flattered sir, but you definitely don't want us in charge of the City. We'd break something important on my first day."
"Not to mention all the paperwork would be a bore," Telysa said.
Linvana rolled her eyes. "Yeah. That too."
They turned to leave.
"Oh, and sir?" Linvana said, pausing in the doorway.
"Yes Captain?" Zavala asked.
"We appreciate the apartment, but we're Guardians. Give it to someone else. Someone who actually needs it."
Zavala smiled knowingly. "If that is your wish, captain. Someday, you'll accept that you actually deserve a reward or two for all you've done."
"Sure," Lin said, "Someday. But not today."
"Do you think we just made a big mistake?" Telysa asked absently as a hangar frame pushed a levitating pallet of crates towards Elva's orange jumpship.
"No," Linvana replied, "We need to do this."
"Sure, I still think it's a good idea," she said, "but maybe we're thinking too small. Zavala offered to make us scout leader and tactical director of the inner system. Instead, we only took a single planet. And a small one at that."
Linvana turned to face Telysa. "We're not ready for something that big. I don't think I could handle that much responsibility, and I know you couldn't. We need to be out there, making a tangible difference. It's just the way we are.
"We're not leaders Tel, and we might never will be. If there's one thing I've learned from all this, it's that I'm not good with the big picture. Making decisions with thousands of lives depending on them? Darkness and shadows, I can't do that. We're weapons, meant for blowing up bad guys, but not for building homes. There's no collateral on Mars. Just us and them."
Telysa shuffled uncomfortably, looking around at the new hangar. The bustle that filled it was familiar, with hawks and jumpships flying in, frames marching about, Amanda's sharp drawl cutting through the din. The space itself was different though. It felt wrong in an intangible way she couldn't put into words.
As they watched, the frame parked the pallet next to Elva and her jumpship. The Warlock's Ghost appeared beside her and transmatted the crates into the ship.
Establishing a base on Mars would take supplies of course, and the eclectic pile of junk Telysa had left in the Den wouldn't cut it. They needed food, weapon and armor parts, patrol beacons, and a dozen other various knick-knacks, all freshly requisitioned from the Tower Quartermaster. Their three Ghosts had already converted as much as they could into matter-engram storage, but the rest would have to be crammed into the tiny holds of their two jumpships.
Two ships. They'd used Linvana's old Arcadia to carry civilians during the evacuation of the old Tower, so it had survived the attack. Telysa's ship hadn't been so lucky, getting crushed by a falling beam before it could even take off. With Amanda so busy, it would be weeks, if not months, before she had the chance to fill Telysa's requisition for a new ship. So for now, Linvana would just have to share.
Telysa sighed and leaned back against the pillar. She rested her head against the hard metal and closed her eyes.
"The world is changing Lin," she found herself saying, "Our world is changing. Some of the things I've seen in the scout reports…they scare me. Vex flooding the surface of Mercury. A massive Cabal ship, somewhere in the outer system. Rumors of a portal hidden in the Deep Black, and an emissary of the Nine challenging Guardians to prove themselves in combat. Strange creatures crawling out of Vex gates on Io."
She opened her eyes. Linvana was staring at her, a concerned expression on her face. "Telysa, should I be worried about you?"
"No," Telysa said immediately, maybe even too quickly. She took a deep breath.
"No," she repeated, more forcefully. "I promise you I'm not losing hope again. We're in this together, always. I just -" She exhaled, searching for the right words to describe the itching at the back of her mind. "Do you remember that feeling you had, right before the attack?"
"Like someone just knocked a glass off the table," Linvana whispered, "and everyone's holding their breath, waiting for it to hit the ground and shatter into a million razor-sharp pieces."
Telysa closed her eyes again. "Exactly. That feeling, it's still there. Whatever's coming, it hasn't happened yet."
"I know," Linvana said quietly, "I still feel it tool." She put her hand on Telysa's shoulder and squeezed gently. "We can do this Tel. Whatever it is, whatever's coming, we can fight it. We just have to be ready. Going to Mars, learning how to do things on our own, that's the first step. And we'll make it together."
Telysa stared at Linvana for a moment, then chuckled. "How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
Telysa smiled. "You always know exactly what to say to make me feel better."
Linvana smiled back. "That's because we're meant for each other." She leaned in and kissed Telysa.
Elva cleared her throat behind Linvana. "When the two of you are finished snogging, I'm ready to go."
Linvana pulled away. Telysa tried and failed to hide the smile on her face. "You have everything loaded up?"
Elva clasped her hands. "I'm all set."
Linvana took a deep breath. "Well then. Let's go meet our brave new world."
The approach to Mars was easy enough, despite the dozens of Red Legion cruisers parked in orbit. Their jumpships were small and fast enough to avoid detection, so long as they didn't linger above the atmosphere too long.
Linvana sat back in the pilot seat and let Polaris do the flying. Instead, she watched the planet surface on the view-screens as they descended. They approached the Claritas highlands from the east, a path that took them directly over the remains of Meridian Bay. The sprawling basin was reduced to a blackened, broken landscape. They were too high up to make out much detail, but she could see smoke still rising in places. Soon enough, they were past Meridian and once again racing over an endless expanse of red sand and orange stone.
She glanced back into her ship's cabin, where Telysa was squeezed into the narrow seat right behind the cockpit. The rest of the tiny space was filled with boxes of supplies. Telysa met Linvana's gaze and smiled. Linvana smiled too, then quickly turned back to the view-screen, so Telysa didn't see how quickly the smile ran away from her face.
The knot of anxiety in her stomach tightened as she considered the things Telysa mentioned. The sense of foreboding, the distant, looming sense of dread, like a storm on the horizon. She'd hoped it had just been her, but if Telysa felt it too…
Really? a voice said in her head, One dream of the Traveler, and now you think every little anxious tickle is a prophecy? Get a grip you idiot.
Linvana shook her head and forcibly removed herself from that train of thought. Call it a hunch, call it intuition, whatever. For the time being, all they could do was prepare as best they could. If something happened, they'd be ready for it. If nothing came, well, maybe they were all just paranoid.
In this life though, one was rarely paranoid.
On the view-screen, the orange-brown rocks gradually rose from the sand, merging and fusing into low rocky hills, until they were racing over a rugged brown plateau split by snaking canyons and valleys.
A few minutes later, they'd landed in one of those valleys. A quick transmat, and they were standing on the rocky ground, the sun bright above them in the pale gray sky.
Linvana inhaled, savoring the fresh, dry air. The immense solitude of this place was palpable. No Vex or Cabal in these mountains. Just them and the desert.
"It will take two trips to move all the supplies," Elva said, approaching from her ship. "Shall we?"
The three Guardians started walking up the canyon at the head of the valley. A short hike later, they emerged into the next valley, which was filled with stands of spindly desert trees. They followed the bubbling creek up the center to its source, a small clear pool beside a Vex structure carved into the valley side.
The first room of the ruins was broad, low space with vertical gaps in the walls. It was mostly empty, as they'd stowed the majority of Telysa's old stuff in one of the chambers deeper in the mountain.
A mosh of memories washed over Linvana as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. Telysa had discovered this hideout years ago, but Linvana hadn't visited it until the day of the attack, when she and Tel fled here for safety. They'd been safe and protected here, but also confused and afraid. And beneath it all was a nagging thought that she was a coward for abandoning the City.
Well today, she wasn't running away. They were here with a purpose.
Their three Ghosts appeared and began depositing the supplies they'd broken down into trans-matter storage. When they finished, they'd materialized a stack of crates that filled nearly a quarter of the room.
"Right," Linvana declared, "We have a lot to do to turn this place into a proper outpost. Tel, Elva, you start unpacking. I'll run back to the ships and grab the rest. This will be our home for a while. Let's get to work."
Twenty-six hours later, Linvana slumped against the wall of her room. After working late into the evening and waking up early the next morning, they'd finally unpacked, and organized all of their supplies. They had everything from food and water to topographical maps of Mars, all neatly stowed in one of the three rooms they'd designated for storage. All the lifting and carrying left her tired and sore, but it was a good tired. One she'd spent a day and a half working for.
She peeled herself off the wall and crossed to the chest at the foot of the double cot. She and Tel had initially slept down in the main room, then moved when the rest of their fireteam arrived. Their new room was a rectangular space with a half-finished roof and an open side that overlooked the rocky badlands opposite their lush little valley. It faced west, and the afternoon sun flooded the room with warm light. The sun here on Mars was dimmer, more distant, but it somehow felt more vital. More alive, like a dying ember in the gray, star-flecked sky.
She opened the chest and pulled out a fresh tank-top. She changed and left her old, sweat stained one on the floor beside the bed. If they were going to stationed here for a while, they'd have to figure out something to wash their gear.
Her new set of armor was stacked on the folding metal table opposite of the bed. It wasn't anything special, just simple, unadorned gray plasteel. A rather dull replacement for her old orange-yellow Holdfast armor, but it would do for now. She lifted the helmet and stared at her reflection in the dull silver visor.
What were they really doing out here? Patrolling Mars, ostensibly to protect Earth. But there were other ways they could do that. What did they get out of it? Experience? A fresh perspective? Time to think?
She set down the helmet and leaned on the table. Telysa always said she second-guessed herself too often. What would life be like if she just accepted responsibility for her actions? If she stopped running away from the people who called her a hero?
"Linvana," Polaris said, appearing over the table. "Elva is paging you. She's on the roof."
"Okay," Linvana said, straightening. "Tell her I'm on my way."
Polaris chirped and disappeared. Linvana set out through the winding metal tunnels of the complex. The stairway to the roof was tucked in a corner not far from the front room. Getting there, however, involved navigating a twisting and confusing spiral of corridors. The Vex, unsurprisingly, had no concept of structural planning.
The complex as a whole was carved straight through the broad ridge that made up the side of the valley. The roof covering the front few rooms overlooked the valley proper, giving a sweeping view of the spindly forest and surrounding landscape. Endless ridges of barren red stone marched all the way to the horizon. This valley was an oddity, a gash of life cut into the desiccated terrain.
A tall Vex antenna rose from the back of the roof, topped with a geometric hoop of wire. Elva knelt at the base of the pole, fiddling with the metal circuits there. A collection of tools was laid out on the stone beside her, as well as a meter and a half long bundle of canvas.
"The Red Legion was definitely thorough," Elva said as Linvana approached. She snatched up her pliers and twisted at wire. "They blasted every single active satellite out of Mars's orbit. Warsats, communication satellites, even a handful of jumpships."
"I heard about that," Linvana said, "Every time another warsat comes online, they vaporize it."
"Yep. And that means there isn't a chance in hell of us getting a coms satellite into orbit. But…" Elva stood up and patted the pole. "This is better."
Linvana frowned. "An antenna?"
Elva smiled. "It's an evanescent-coupled transmitter that operates within a seven-dimensional super-space."
"Uh…" Linvana said.
"It broadcasts along the curled up dimensions of our space time," Elva explained, "allowing it to penetrate the Vex cloaking field and transmit directly to our target, without it being traceable back to us."
"Uh-huh," Linvana said, "Our Ghost's will be able to use it?"
"Yep," Elva replied, "I just finished reconfiguring the interface. It's a trick I found in Osiris's notes."
"You've really been doing a lot with those notes," Linvana noted.
Elva shrugged. "Osiris knew more about the Vex than any of us. His notes aren't just notes, they're detailed schematics of every single one of their machines. I've learned so much from them. It's like everything I did before was just uncovering a single piece, and now I can see the whole puzzle."
"Do you think they could give us a tactical advantage over the Vex?"
"Maybe. I haven't gotten very far with the Vex themselves yet. I've barely learned enough to start fiddling with and dissecting their machines. Which is actually why I wanted to talk to you."
"I was wondering when you were going to get to that," Linvana said.
Elva stood up and handed the bundle of canvas to Linvana
"What is it?" Linvana asked, taking it.
"Look and see," Elva said with a smile.
Linvana frowned and unwrapped the end of the bundle. Underneath the canvas was a foot-long handle, wrapped in wire. She pulled away the rest of the cloth, revealing a thin cross-guard and a long, angular blade. The blade was about a hand-width wide at the base, with a jagged shard of orange crystal set in to it. One edge of the blade was sharp and angled slightly, tapering towards the rough, unfinished back edge. Near the end, the sharpened edge bent up towards the back, forming a spike-like tip.
She dropped the cloth and gingerly raised the sword. The sunlight glinted off patches of slightly different colors on the blade, as if the whole thing was welded together from little scraps of metal. In fact, it looked like the parts were Vex metal, the same stuff the ruins were built out of.
Linvana lowered the sword and looked at Elva. "You made this?"
"Um, yeah?"
Linvana gripped the hilt with both hands and took a practice swing. The weight of the blade cleaved the air, but it didn't feel slow or unbalanced.
"It's perfect," she whispered.
Elva beamed. "I hoped you would like it. I figured since you gave Raze-Lighter back to Lord Shaxx, you could use a replacement."
Linvana lowered the sword and examined the crystal set at the base of the blade. It was about the size of her hand, kind of lopsided, and edged with thick wires.
"Is this the crystal from Mercury?" she asked.
"Yes," Elva said, "The circuit around it draws power from the network overlaying these ruins, then channels it through the crystal to create Solar energy. I call it the Radiant Terminus."
Linvana clasped Elva's shoulder. "Thank you."
Elva smiled sheepishly and picked up the canvas. "It's nothing. It was mostly practice for me, to see if I understood how the technology works. Hopefully, it won't explode when you go to use it."
The Warlock started walking back towards the stairs. Linvana didn't miss the gleam in her eye.
"I have something else I want to show you," she called over her shoulder.
Linvana rested the blunt edge of the sword on her shoulder and followed Elva.
"I'm also working on swords for the Void and Arc crystals we found," Elva said as they descended the stairs. "Mariel and Damien are going to pick them up on their way to the Dreadnaught."
"Elva," Linvana asked, "you do realize that Saturn and Mars are nearly at opposition right now, right?"
The Exo shrugged. "Eh, what's an extra few million miles when you have a planetary warp drive. Besides, they were the only two who will even use swords. Damien with his whole 'fight fire with fire' thing, and Mariel because, well, Mariel."
Elva led her through the passageways, until they came to a broad room with a square metal dais in the middle. A single glowing white filament connected the center of the dais to a set of half-circle loops hanging from the ceiling.
"It took me a while to figure out what this thing was," Elva said, picking up a datapad that was wired to the dais. "It's receiving data from points all across the system, and then some. It was dormant, like most of this place, but I managed to turn it back on."
Elva tapped the datapad, and the room exploded with light.
Linvana stumbled as a swirling, tumbling vortex of glowing lines and shapes flooded the air. Impressions and colors raced by, too fast to comprehend. Her vision swam as her brain overloaded with information. It was too much. Her sword fell from her grip as her legs turned to rubber.
"Sorry!" Elva's voice called from somewhere, cutting through the blast of images. "I forgot it does that."
Something shifted in the room. The bending shapes slowed and stopped. In the stillness, her surroundings reasserted themselves. She wasn't being swept away by a torrent of glowing light. She was just standing in a metal room with Elva, amidst of forest of white lines and symbols.
"What the hell was that?" Linvana breathed, leaning on the doorframe for support.
"What you just saw," Elva said, tapping on the datapad, "was a three dimensional approximation of how the Vex perceive our local space-time. This -" She motioned to the stationary filaments surrounding them. "- is a snapshot of that, slowed down and synchronized with our own time stream."
"That was…horrifying," Linvana stammered, still trying to collect her bearings.
"Yeah, I'll try to program it so it doesn't happen again. But, if we map the data to our own four-dimensional space-time, we get this…"
Elva tapped the datapad again, and the abstract patterns congealed into solid shapes. A single tiny sphere formed at the center, surrounded by four small rings with a single dot on them. A disc of glowing dots surrounded the inner rings, followed by four much larger rings, each twice as wide as the others. Finally, filling up the distant corners of the room, was a second, much more diffuse cloud of dots.
"It's our solar system," Linvana realized.
"Exactly," Elva said, "This room is an orrery, a real-time model of the entire system. Every single body more than nine-point-two kilometers across is tracked and represented here."
She made a few more taps on the datapad, and the dot on the fifth ring swelled to fill the room. It resolved into a fist-sized orb, with four bright dots and countless dimmer dots orbiting it.
"Jupiter," Linvana said.
The perspective zoomed in on the second bright dot, revealing a holographic white orb crisscrossed with long, narrow lines. Europa.
"This is amazing," Linvana said, "What else is this place hiding?"
"No clue," Elva said, "I've only just begun exploring. I'll probably be at it for months. In the mean time, I figured you could use this as a command center for your whole operation base, or something."
"That's a good idea. I'll let Telysa know she can move in here."
"You do that. I'm going to reprogram it, so it doesn't break your brain when you turn it on."
Elva set the datapad down and began typing on it, her expression already lost in thought. Linvana watched her for a moment, then started wandering back to the front room of the den.
Something had changed about Elva in these last few weeks. Ever since they fought the Incendiary Revision on Mercury, she'd been quiet and withdrawn. She'd started ignoring her research on the Vex, and instead trained with her abilities like there was no tomorrow. And now…now she was attacking the secrets of the Vex with simmering determination. She'd regained her old confidence, and then some.
Of course, they'd all changed. Losing your home tended to do that.
Telysa was standing over a table in the front room, poring over a map of Mars. A pair of electric lanterns supplemented the late afternoon sunlight leaking in from outside.
Linvana leaned her sword against the wall, then walked up to Telysa and wrapped her arms around the Hunter's waist. "How's it going?" she asked.
In response, Telysa simply groaned and cradled her forehead in her hand. "I'm seriously starting to regret signing up for this."
Linvana smiled wryly and grabbed a pair of folding chairs from the corner. She pushed one under Telysa, then sat down across from her. "Talk to me," she ordered.
Telysa sighed and tapped the map with her finger. "This planet," she declared, "is a mess."
"Well, as tactical commander of Mars," Linvana said, "You're obliged to tell me what exactly qualifies as 'a mess'."
"Well, for starters, there's only four other Hunters on Mars, and with everything going on in the outer system, Cayde doesn't have any more to spare. How are we supposed to patrol an entire planet with six people? I have no idea what's actually going on anywhere. Meridian is a smoking crater, and we've lost contact with our beacon networks in Tharsis, Hellas, and Utopia. There's been some weird signals from Candor Chasm that could be Vex, but nobody is close enough to go check it out."
"So that means we should go check it out ourselves. We're fairly close," Linvana said.
"I actually have a whole list of places we need to check out personally," Telysa noted, "Meridian and Candor of course. There's also been some Cabal chatter about Elysium Mons. Elva turned on a Vex neutrino sensor, and it immediately lit up with a signal from a crater near the north ice-cap."
"That all sounds good and well, but what about the Cabal?" Linvana asked, "The Red Legion has a sizable chunk of their forces concentrated here. What about the old legions?"
"It's hard to say," Telysa said, tapping her chin. "We intercepted some coms chatter about Cabal fighting other Cabal, but nobody's been able to verify. Their exclusion zones have been locked down tight. No one's managed to get within forty kilometers."
"We'll have to figure some way to get in there. In the mean time, Elva found a room with a map of the solar system. It would probably be a better place for -"
"Linvana," Polaris interrupted, "I'm getting an incoming transmission from the Vanguard."
"Open a channel," Linvana said.
There was a crackle of static, then Polaris started playing Cayde's voice. "…finally? Took them long enough. Can anyone hear me?"
"Loud and clear sir," Linvana replied, "Telysa's here too."
"Oh, hey you two," Cayde said, "If your lives depended on it, how fast do you think you could get to Schmidt crater?"
Telysa glanced down at her map. "Less than half an hour by jumpship."
"Right," Cayde said, "I'm gonna need you to get on top of that. An hour ago, a terminal in the Cosmo with a telemetry feed from an old satellite above Mars. Didn't last long before the Cabal blew it out of the sky, but my scouts tell me it registered the heat signature of a ketch, heading straight towards Schmidt. Fallen on Mars is dangerous enough, but get this: Ikora says her Hidden discovered a warsat launch facility in that crater a few years back."
Linvana met Telysa's eyes. "Sir, the last time the Fallen went after the warminds…" she said, vocalizing both their worries.
"You don't need to remind me," Cayde said, "The last thing we need right now is the Fallen commandeering a bunch of warsats. Unless I'm mistaken, this is just the thing you signed up for with your little proposal. Get to that crater stat, and let me know when you're there. Cayde out."
Polaris chirped and disappeared after the connection ended.
"Well," Telysa said, "You up for a night out?"
Linvana gave a grim smile. "We'll call it a date."