Tristan sat in the living room of the Chasers' apartment, waiting for Rogue to awaken. He knew there was no point in waking the Exo up himself as it wasn't likely to work very well and would only result in a bad mood. So instead, he passed the time by reading a magazine that he had found on the table. He wasn't particularly interested in the latest City fashions, but it was better than doing nothing.

Just as he was reaching the end of it, he heard Rogue's door open. Tristan put the magazine down and made his way into the hall. Sure enough, Rogue had just stepped out of his room.

"Whaddaya want?" the Titan grumbled.

"Good morning," said Tristan, "I was wondering if you would accompany me to check up on Elijah Joviac."

Rogue sighed, pushing past him. "Gimme a fuckin' chance to wake up first."

Tristan followed the Exo into the kitchen, watching as he started fixing a bagel. "What's so important 'bout this Elijah kid anyway?" asked Rogue.

"Jade said she detected instability in his Light while she was training him," Tristan explained, "She wanted to make sure it hasn't gotten stronger."

Not to mention how it might shed some insight into Harley's unstable Light as well.

Rogue didn't seem impressed. "Why do I gotta come? I was gonna go a few rounds in the Crucible today."

Tristan considered telling the Exo that he was always in the Crucible and ought to take a break anyway, but thought better of it.

"Having backup would be useful and as no one else is available to do it, you were the only candidate… Could you possibly bring that with you?"

Rogue took a bite out of the bagel and walked forward, poking Tristan in the chest. "Don't test me, Warlock." But he moved to the door and stepped into his boots.

As Tristan buckled his own boots, he saw the Titan open the storage closet. "I doubt you'll need a gun."

Rogue withdrew a heavy-looking auto rifle that seemed to have four separate barrels strapped together. "I like to be prepared."

"You should at least bring a smaller gun," advised Tristan.

With a roll of his eyes, Rogue put the massive auto rifle away, selecting a sidearm instead. "Happy now?"

"Yes. I still don't believe you'll need a gun, but if you insist on bringing one, a sidearm should be sufficient."

"Whatever," grumbled the Exo, "Lead the way, space pixie."

Tristan obliged, opening the front door and exiting the apartment. Leaving Rogue to close the door behind them, he thought about where they might find Elijah Joviac. He was one of Jade's former students, but that didn't help much. Guardians were dispatched all over the system and constantly coming in and out of the Tower.

Tristan would normally check the Vanguard database for new assignments but he wasn't sure how frequently it was updated. The last thing they needed was to go on a wild Ghost chase. Tristan relayed this to Rogue, who didn't seem to care very much.

"So what? Just ask Jade. She taught him, right? Seems like she'd know where he is."

Tristan shook his head. "She instructed him some time ago. Elijah isn't a Sunsinger, so he would have had a different teacher to provide him with advanced instruction in Arc or Void Light."

"So ask them," said Rogue impatiently.

Tristan frowned. "I'm not sure who the Arc instructor is. But the Void instructor is a Warlock named Afonya Palasha. She may provide us with a lead."

Rogue nodded. "Let's go."

The duo set off for the Training Center. As they walked, Tristan considered the task at hand. Jade had wanted someone to check on Elijah, arguably a one-person job. Yet Tristan had chosen to bring Rogue along.

As far as relationships went, he and the Titan didn't really have one. In fact, Tristan didn't have much of a relationship with any of the other Chasers. He'd always found forming relationships difficult. With Fireteam Calypso, it had taken a random strike assignment throwing them together for anything to come of it. And even then, he'd just found it easier to accept Liv's invitation for a permanent fireteam rather than matching up with temporary fireteams every time. It was the practical thing to do. Over time, he'd grown closer to his teammates. The three of them worked well together. But being welcomed into the Chasers' clan had thrown him off. Suddenly there were seven more people to connect with and it was not proving easy. He had only spoken to most of them a few times.

Harley seemed nice but was almost never in the Tower. Fyr was too chaotic to get much of a read on. Tristan liked Bazzle, but the Titan was often in the Training Center. Rae scared him almost as much as Kai and Kaedro had always felt "out of his league" somehow. Jade was the closest to being what he considered a friend. They shared many interests and her insight made it easy to forget how new of a Guardian she still was.

And then there was Rogue. The Exo was practically Tristan's opposite, making him even more of a challenge to get along with than Fyr. He also got the sense that the Titan found him annoying. By getting to know Rogue, Tristan felt that he would be proving something to himself.

He shook himself out of his thoughts as they reached the Training Center and made their way to Afonya's office. Tristan knocked lightly.

"Come in."

As they entered, Tristan saw Afonya sitting behind her desk. She nodded at him. "Hello."

Tristan returned the nod. "Hello. My name is Tristan Bentlix and this is Rogue-12. We've come to ask about one of your students-"

"Yeah," interrupted Rogue, "Do you know who Elijah Joviac is?"

Afonya nodded. "Elijah was one of my students. He adapted very well to using Void Light. Why do you ask?"

"Jade was concerned about him," explained Tristan, "She wanted us to check in on him."

"I see. I remember she asked me about Elijah before, but I never found anything particularly concerning about him." Her eyebrows pinched together. "Did something happen with him?"

"It's probably nothing," Tristan assured her, "We just want to check on him so we can reassure Jade."

The other Warlock frowned thoughtfully. "Your best bet would probably be the Bazaar," she said, "I've seen Elijah there a few times before when I was over talking to Ikora."

"Thank you," said Tristan, "You've been very helpful."

Afonya smiled. "Of course. Good luck."

They left the office.

"Well that was a waste of fuckin' time," grumbled Rogue, "We walked all the way out here just for her to tell us to go right back the way we came."

Tristan sighed. "I agree, it did seem to be a waste of our time. However, we did get a lead on Elijah so I don't believe it was all for nothing."

"That's only if we find him. Seems like a long shot, if you ask me."

Sometime later, they arrived back in the Bazaar.

Tristan scanned the area before realizing that he had no idea what Elijah Joviac looked like and wouldn't be able to identify him even if he was there. Nudging Rogue's arm, Tristan led him over to where Ikora Rey stood near the Tower's railing.

"Hello, Tristan."

Tristan nodded to her. "Ikora."

"What brings you over here?" she asked.

"We told a friend of ours, Jade Wrythal, that we would check up on one of her former students for her. The Void instructor, Afonya, mentioned that she would often see him in the Bazaar but we're not sure what he looks like. Do you know him? His name is Elijah Joviac."

Ikora pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Yes...I believe I remember him. He has black hair just a bit shorter than yours and gray eyes. He wears dark green robes."

"Thank you, Ikora," said Tristan gratefully.

He took his leave of the Warlock Vanguard, once more scanning the Bazaar for Elijah. Now that they knew what to look for, he was certain that they would be able to identify him if he showed up.

After several minutes of keeping an eye out for the Warlock, Rogue spotted him ducking out from a nearby alley and heading in the direction of New Monarchy.

The two Guardians immediately set off after him, intending to catch him up. But as they rounded the corner into the New Monarchy setup, they found that he had completely vanished.

"Can I help you?" Executor Hideo asked, glancing up from his Holopad.

"Yes," said Tristan, "We're looking for a Warlock who came this way. He was wearing green robes and has black hair. Have you seen him?"

The Executor shook his head. "I'm afraid I haven't seen anyone like that around here."

"Oh. Okay. Thank you."

With that, Tristan turned and began walking back the way they had come. Rogue soon caught up with him.

"What was that about?" the Titan demanded, "Hideo was obviously lyin'. There's no other place the kid could've gone."

"We can't be sure… It's highly improbable that Executor Hideo didn't see him, but that doesn't automatically mean he's lying. Elijah might have found a place in this Tower we haven't seen yet."

"Great. So now what?"

"I think we should investigate the alleyway that Elijah was leaving. There could be something of interest back there."

Rogue sighed. "Might as well."

Tristan led the way back to the alleyway. After ducking under a barred gate, they came face to face with a strange man. He wore green robes and had a headband wrapped around his head. Mischief ran rampant in his face.

He snapped his fingers, pointing at them. "You two here to sign up for the next match? Perfect timing. One team just lost half its players."

Tristan frowned. "What match?"

The man laughed. "Gambit, of course!"

Tristan had every intention of informing the man that they didn't know what "Gambit" was and how he must be mistaken, when Rogue grabbed his arm and spun him around.

"Listen, I've heard of this guy. He's called the Drifter. Gambit's like the Crucible 'cept way different. Rae played a few matches before leavin' for Io and she told me about it. I think we should play."

Tristan freed his arm from the Exo's grasp. "I don't see why that's necessary. It would only hinder our progress in finding Elijah."

"Bentlix, the Drifter knows him. They were talkin' together back here, remember? I bet if we step in for this match, the Drifter'll tell us where to find the kid."

Tristan sighed. He could see the merit in the idea, but he wasn't exactly keen to try Gambit.

"We'll play," Rogue told the Drifter.

Tristan sighed again. Apparently, he had no say in the matter.

The Drifter clapped his hands. "That's what I like to hear, brother! Meet me on the Derelict in ten."

"You got it," said the Titan. With that, he made his way out of the alley, Tristan close behind.

As they emerged back into the main area of the Bazaar, Tristan pulled Rogue aside.

"What exactly is Gambit, Rogue?"

"Gambit's a game. Four players per team. You hop into an arena and kill enemies. The enemies drop motes which you put in the bank. You wanna be the first team to fill up your bank 'cause then a big Taken will appear and you gotta kill it to win. Best out of three rounds."

"Interesting… Do the Vanguard know of this game?"

Rogue shook his head. "Nah, it's not what you'd call 'sanctioned'. S'why you don't talk about Gambit where lots of people can hear ya. Never know who's listening."

Tristan's apprehension increased. Gambit was sounding more suspect by the minute. He just hoped they would come away with good information for their trouble.

Just over ten minutes later, Tristan was transmatting down into an area called the Emerald Coast in the European Dead Zone, clad in full gear. With him was Rogue and two other Guardians - a Hunter and a Warlock. Following them away from the transmat zone, Tristan saw several squadrons of Cabal in the open space ahead.

As the rest of his team charged ahead, he watched them scoop up glowing white pyramid shapes that dropped from fallen enemies. Realizing that they must be the "motes" Rogue had mentioned, he hurried to catch up and help collect them.

As the game progressed, Tristan thought he understood why the Drifter had created it. Like the Crucible, it could help prepare Guardians for real combat. And also like the Crucible, it provided a way to blow off steam and have fun with teammates. Or Tristan assumed it did. So far, the game seemed quite intense and competitive.

Upon inserting more motes into the bank, he saw a portal appear off to the side. It appeared that the Hunter had seen it too.

"The portal's open!" she called, "We got anyone good at invading?"

"Don't look at me," said the Warlock, "Maybe one of the new guys can do it."

"What's invading?" Tristan asked just as Rogue surged past him through the portal.

Nothing noticeably changed, but after a few moments, the Drifter's commentary acquired new energy.

"Wooo! A whole team of Guardians in the dirt!"

"That right there, is invading," said the Hunter.

There was a small flash as Rogue appeared in the arena once more, accepting high fives from the other two Guardians.

As they tore through more Cabal, Tristan saw an opportunity to ask Rogue about what had just happened.

"What does that portal do?" He was fairly certain he knew, but he wanted to be sure.

Rogue was practically panting as he replied. "Sends you over to the other team's arena for a bit. You gotta kill as many of them as you can before your time's up. Gives ya one hell of a rush!"

"I see," said Tristan as he picked up another mote. "Is there a point to invading?"

"Sure there is! You mess with the other team and cause 'em to lose progress. And you have fun while doing it!"

Tristan carried his motes back to the bank, a frown on his face. While he could see why having to fight Guardians was good practice, he wasn't sure that he liked how Taken the portal had looked. As he banked the motes, he wondered what - if anything - the Drifter was getting out of Gambit.

By the time the match ended, Tristan had a far better understanding of the game's mechanics. His team had won the first round, lost the second, but won again during the tiebreaker. He had even taken a turn invading just to see what it was like.

He'd only managed to kill one of the other Guardians but had discovered firsthand what the invader saw and felt. His vision had darkened, the enemy Guardians appearing as pinpoints of light. As he'd hunted them across the arena, he had felt a powerful urge to kill them stemming from somewhere deep inside of himself. The urge only strengthened after he'd killed one of them and he had stopped out of fear for the powerful emotions that weren't his own.

He'd been transmatted back to his own arena, legs shaking from the adrenaline that had continued to course through him. Rogue was right. It was a rush. A kind of rush that Tristan did not want to experience again.

After flying back to the Tower, Tristan and Rogue waited in the Drifter's alleyway. When the Drifter transmatted down, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Son of a Dredgen! ..What are you two lurkin' around here for?"

"We weren't lurking," said Tristan, "We were waiting for you. We wanted to ask about a Guardian that you might know."

Some of the tension left the Drifter's posture.

"Who're you after?" he asked warily.

"A Warlock named Elijah Joviac."

The Drifter's face cleared. "Yeah, I know him. What's your interest?"

"We want to know where we might find him. A friend of ours is worried about him and asked us to look into it."

"Look, brother, all I know is I sometimes see him goin' down to the Annex. If I were you, that's where I'd look."

"Thank you," said Tristan.

"Don't mention it. And I'm serious about that."

Taking their leave of the Drifter, the two Guardians made their way down to the Annex.

A conglomeration of unused rooms below the Bazaar, it was a place that Tristan had never needed to visit and one he assumed Rogue hadn't entered either. Nevertheless, they descended into the maze of dark empty rooms. Tristan felt a sense of foreboding settle over him.

"I have a bad feeling," he muttered to Rogue.

"You too, huh? Yeah, this place gives me the creeps…"

Tristan wanted to tell the Exo that it wasn't the Annex itself giving him the bad feeling, but he thought better of it. Rogue would likely dismiss it as "a crazy Warlock vision".

They continued down a passage, their footsteps echoing in the deserted space. All of a sudden, Tristan heard a voice.

He stopped cold, causing Rogue to bump into him and nearly knock him over.

"The hell ar-"

Tristan clamped a hand over Rogue's mouth plates. The action would have done nothing to stop the Exo's vocal processors, but Rogue was evidently too surprised by Tristan's action to continue speaking.

Tristan removed his hand. "I heard something," he whispered, "Listen."

Rogue looked like he wanted to say something else, but stood still, humoring him. For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Then the sound of muffled voices floated down the corridor to them.

"It must be Elijah," said Tristan, continuing to keep his voice low.

"Elijah and someone else," said Rogue, "I know he's a Warlock, but he's probably talkin' to another person."

Tristan shot the Titan an unimpressed look. "Are you implying that Warlocks are prone to talking to themselves?"

Rogue shrugged, his hands held up in surrender. "Hey, you said it, not me."

Tristan shook his head with a sigh before slowly edging closer to the voices. He paused just before reaching the doorway. Hopefully, he would be able to overhear the people in the room without giving himself away. Next to him, he heard the soft steady whoosh of Rogue's breathing.

"Why do Exos breathe?" he asked, keeping his tone hushed, "You don't need oxygen like humans do."

Rogue shrugged. "Probably makes us seem more human. And maybe it keeps us from overheating or somethin'. I dunno. Go ask a technician."

"But if that's the case, then-"

"This ain't the time, smart guy. Now shut up, I wanna hear what they're sayin'."

Tristan found himself in agreement with the Exo. This wasn't the time or place to have a long conversation. He returned his attention to the people in the other room.

"-send you to check up on me? I'm not a child, I know what I'm doing." The voice sounded male and relatively young.

"He has his reasons," another voice replied. This one was deeper and smoother. "Jobs have gone bad before. The boss doesn't want to take any chances this time."

"What happened last time?" the first voice asked.

"The failure was internal," said the smooth voice, sounding irritated, "Operative got too close to the mark."

"Incentive problem," said a third voice, gruffer than the other two.

The smooth voice made a noise of agreement. "What he said. There wasn't a good enough incentive. Boss fixed that this time around."

There was a small sound of dismay.

"I know it isn't a great deal for you, but that's just how it has to be. It isn't anything personal kid, just business, plain and simple. Besides, you won't need it after this job. Boss' got his eye on you. You pull this off, you'll get some nice employment opportunities coming your way. Isn't that right, Doug?"

There was a grunt of agreement.

"What if something goes wrong with this job?" asked the first voice nervously.

"Expecting something to go wrong, are you?"

"No! Not at all! I just-"

"It's fine, I know what you meant. Don't worry. Unlike last time, the boss has a full hand. You're not alone on this job, kid. We have a whole crew working different angles. What does the boss like to call it again, Doug?"

"Diversification," said the gruff voice, which must belong to the man named Doug.

"Exactly! We're diversifying. The beauty is, some of the people involved won't even know they're working on our side. So don't worry so much. You just worry about your part and let everyone else worry about theirs."

"My part? I thought my part was done."

"It is. Your part for phase one. Phase two will be underway as soon as boss gives the go-ahead."

"So what do I have to do next?"

"I was getting to that. Relax. Your next part will be much less active. Boss will be having you observe some of our other assets. You'll only have to step in if it becomes absolutely necessary. Phase one was the easy stuff. Phase two requires...precision. Heads will roll if we don't get this right. We've already failed to take out Hayden once-"

Rogue jolted, accidentally elbowing Tristan in the side. Tristan tried to stifle his groan of pain, but he must have made a noise because the voice went silent.

"What was that?" the smooth voice asked sharply.

"Probably rats," Doug replied nonchalantly.

"Go see what it was. I'm not taking any chances."

Footsteps echoed. Tristan, eyes still watering in pain, belatedly realized that whoever that person was, he was coming their way.

Before he could move himself, Rogue grabbed his arm, dragging him away from the doorway and into an alcove. The two Guardians hid behind a stack of crates, waiting with bated breath as the person emerged from the room and proceeded to inspect the area for any sign of interlopers.

After what seemed like a decade, his footsteps finally retreated to the room.

"No one's there."

"Are you sure?" asked the smooth voice.

The other man must have nodded.

"Alright… But we'll take this discussion to the secondary backup location just in case. I'm not risking this job on your searching skills."

Tristan and Rogue remained frozen in place long after the three had left the room.

The Warlock only moved when he realized Rogue's hand was still clenched around his arm. He winced. Any more pressure and the Exo could break the bone. He tugged at Rogue's hand, prying it off, before rising to his feet and brushing off his robes.

"Holy shit," hissed Rogue, standing up as well, "Holy shit!"

"It's likely that one of those men was Elijah Joviac," stated Tristan.

"I don't care about that," exclaimed the Exo. He grabbed Tristan's shoulders, shaking him. "Did you hear what they said? They're gunning for Ace!"

Tristan nodded, breaking free of Rogue's grip. "I'm aware," he said.

The line spoken by the irritated man kept echoing through his head. We've already failed to take out Hayden once.

The implication was that there had already been an attempt. He wondered when it had taken place. Surely, it had to have been notable in some way. He didn't like to consider the possibility that the attempt had gone unnoticed.

"We've gotta warn him," said Rogue adamantly.

Tristan considered the point. It was true that warning Harley seemed to be the logical next step. However, there was a problem with that plan.

"He is currently prohibited from having visitors. Perhaps if we inform the Praxic Order of the situation, they will be able to-"

"Screw the Praxic Order! All they care about is wreckin' our apartment and arresting innocent Guardians. Besides, who's to say the Order hasn't been infiltrated?"

Tristan frowned. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. Infiltrated by whom?"

"By whoever the hell Joviac and those guys report to! They kept talkin' about some 'boss,' right? And how they had a lot of people workin' with 'em…"

"You believe that the Praxic Order may have been compromised?" asked Tristan.

The Exo nodded emphatically. "Exactly."

Tristan hummed thoughtfully. While Rogue's theory was based on minimal evidence, there was merit to it.

"We can't discount the possibility without further investigation," he said.

Rogue swore. "We should've followed those bastards when we had the chance!"

Tristan shook his head. "I doubt it would have done any good. They were already on guard and our near-discovery only contributed. It was likely that we would have been found out."

"Fine, fine," grumbled Rogue, "Have any better ideas, Mr. Genius?"

"Perhaps we should shadow Elijah more. We may be able to learn more details about the organization he's involved in."

"I guess…"

"The only problem would be locating him again. I doubt he's likely to return here for some time."

"I got an idea how we can find him… Meet ya back at the apartment?"

Tristan only hesitated for a moment before nodding. Whatever the Titan's idea was, he must have a good reason for not wanting to share it. He let the other Guardian take his leave.

Though he knew he ought to return to the apartment himself, something held him back. Jade would want to know how Elijah was doing and Tristan wasn't entirely sure she should learn the full story. If Rogue was right and they couldn't trust the Praxic Order, then it would be better to limit the number of people who knew what he and the Exo had overheard.

He felt uneasy. Knowing that people were out to kill a Guardian - and one his clanmates no less - was not something he liked to dwell on. Having to keep it a secret was even worse. But Tristan would gladly do it if it meant that the others would be safe. He resolved to talk to Rogue about it before any of their friends returned home.

With a quiet sigh, he started off for the apartment. With any luck, he and the Titan would be able to get to the bottom of things and the whole situation would be put behind them in no time.

A/N: Now we're starting to pick up the pace. Does anyone have a guess as to who could be behind the scheme? You also got to see a bit more of Tristan and Rogue, who haven't made too many appearances so far. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!