'Looks like the coordinates are up ahead' said Blink.
We landed on a relatively flat area but we were still a little unsteady at first.
'Careful. The gravity is slightly different here' Icarus was gingerly pressing his foot into the ground.
'Don't worry, you'll adjust quickly, according to reports anyway' his Ghost added.
'So, what's first?' Xander said, stretching.
This was the first time any of the trainees had been to Venus, the Vanguard didn't want us straying too far from home until we were prepared for what was out there.
It was unlike anything I'd ever seen, or that I remember seeing at least.
Areas covered in lush exotic plants blended with large structures built by the native creatures and in the distance was the remains of a city.
The climate was humid and heavy here, our helmets filtered any toxins or dangerous gases but we could still feel the warmth and smell the moisture in the air. It smelt like the greenhouses back home after a storm, except there was also a slightly rusty smell too.
'According to scouts there's a lab nearby that we need access to, but the place went into lockdown years ago after a security breach, probably the locals poking around, there's an external security system located outside the lab but it's well hidden'
Blink had been floating above our heads giving our landing area a quick once over.
'Whoever built the facility put it in a safety net, in case the lockdown protocol was triggered accidentally'.
'Find the secret computer and hack the secret computer? Sounds easy enough!'
Clara added while loading her gun and checking the sight.
'Not exactly. The lab has another protocol that will destroy all data and materials inside if any unauthorised personnel tries to disable the security, so this will a delicate job'
Spinner warned whilst hovering near Clara's shoulder.
'Just once I'd like a 'pop to the shops for some milk' kind of job you know?' Xander sighed and we started walking towards the buildings in the distance.
We found ourselves on what may have been a road some time ago as we neared the city. Clara was eagerly walking in front and I could imagine her beaming in wonder at the surroundings under her helmet.
'Hey Icarus! What's this plant? Ooh! And this one! Or that one?' She called over whilst admiring some of the nearby flowers.
'They'd look great in the windows back home don't you think?' She added leaning to pick one.
'Don't!' Icarus leapt forward and grabbed her hand but just as quickly let go, probably embarrassed.
'This ones dangerous. See how it looks slightly sticky?'
We all lean in for a closer look.
'It secretes a sap-like substance. It's poisonous and has been known to be acidic'.
'And the others probably wouldn't survive very long in our climate' he stood and brushed the soil from his legs.
Icarus could be uncharacteristically chatty when Clara was involved.
By the time he'd finished speaking we'd all backed up a few steps from the potentially dangerous flora.
'Oh. That's a shame, I liked the colour!' Clara said with disappointment.
'Well, now we're done looking at the pretty flowers we should hurry up and find this lab' Xander took a few steps forward and but then stopped suddenly.
'What's-'
He raised a hand and we all drew our weapons and listened.
Silence. The occasional breeze rustled though the trees but nothing more.
'Spinner, is there anything nearby?' Clara asked aiming her rifle towards the bushes.
'Not detecting anything but there could be interference'
We slowly edged forward, Xander first, followed by Clara and Icarus facing the left and right then myself, looking behind.
'We're too exposed out here. Let's find cover' I whisper and everyone nodded in agreement.
Keeping our formation we move along the road until we start seeing less trees and more buildings.
'So what was it? Did you see something?' Clara was the first to speak.
'No, but I heard something, not sure what though'
answered Xander.
'Most likely Fallen scouts. There were reports of them being in the area' Xanders Ghost had appeared above his shoulder.
'Or Vex' Icarus had reverted to fewer words.
'It's possible' Blink said watching for any movement nearby.
'So what do we have on them, the Vex?' I asked.
'Well they're a machine race that has total control of Mercury and a section of Venus, they are capable of teleportation and have been found to share a single hive mind. It's believed they can manipulate reality and travel through time...wonderful' Blink replied.
'They turn planets into machines and it's thought that they are attempting to incorporate themselves into the very fabric of time and space' Another Ghost added.
After another half an hour of careful movement we reached the city, now we had to find the security facility.
'So do we have coordinates?' Clara called out before wiping dirt from the nearest window and looking inside.
'We have approximate coordinates' Icarus answered whilst his Ghost projected an image of a map onto the ground in front of us.
'So' Xander looked around.
'It's one of these buildings?'
'I say we each take one and one person stays outside keeping watch' he pointed to the three blocks within the circled area.
We had a few rounds of rock, paper, scissors to decide who stayed outside.
'Aww that sucks!' Clara had lost.
'It's going to be so boring!'
'Don't worry we'll radio you if it gets interesting!' I reassured her while Xander patted her on the shoulder.
We each picked a building and headed inside. The door opened with relative ease, I wasn't sure if was a good thing.
Once inside Blink and looked around.
'I'm not even sure what this place used to be'
'Looks like it's been ransacked a while ago' I called back.
I opened a cabinet and found nothing but something that resembled binders and papers but it looked like they been wet and then had rotted slightly before drying out, I picked one up and it broke apart in my hands.
The rest of the room had a large counter or desk and some chairs, mostly broken and scattered across the floor, and everything had a thick layer of dust.
'So up or down?' Blink had found an elevator.
'Large computers are usually in basements right?'
I figured down would be the most likely location so I look a knife from my belt and pressed it between the doors to create a gap large enough to pry it open.
'After you Blink' I reached out for the cables inside to lower myself to the bottom floor. 'Why me?!'
'Well you're the torch for starters'
'Fine, but you better hope its deserted down there!'
Blink then descended downward and I watched the light shining from his centre as I lowered myself after him.
We reached the bottom and had to force another set of doors open, we were greeted with darkness.
Blink moved ahead a little to illuminate part of the area and we found we were in a long corridor.
Along the walls were a few doors and a set of windowless doors at the end.
'My glimmers on that one' I pointed to the end of the corridor.
We approached the doors and found them to securely locked, unsurprisingly.
'That looks like a pretty sophisticated system' I said glancing at the console on the wall. It looked like it needed facial and fingerprint scans as well as an alphanumerical passcode.
'Get the front panel off, carefully, and I'll see if I can get inside' I gently eased the front of the device from the wall and Blink set to work, occasionally he could be heard muttering to himself. The corridor was now in darkness as the light he made was pointed at the console.
After a while I heard a sound from the elevator shaft.
'Hey! I think we found it! Blinks just-'
I thought it was one of the others having finished searching, or Clara had gotten bored.
First there was the slightly metallic sound of something landing at the bottom of the elevator. Xander maybe? His armour was pretty noisy at times.
No, he would shouted something, some comment about me getting lost.
Next was another sound, almost mechanical.
Then I saw a single red light shining from the open door.
