Buggy drifted around the ship cockpit gently, humming to herself in a soft voice. While slightly bored, she ignored her boredom, knowing well that Tri had trusted her with his ship, and he was counting on her. So, here she was, keeping the ship steadily drifting in orbit. It wasn't so bad. It was nice to have some space between herself and Amber. She may love the Guardian like a sister but at times she wanted to ignore her duty to revive her when killed. Her constant jabbering and… bizarre thoughts, made Buggy want to question Amber's and her own sanity at times. But now, within the empty cockpit, only blissful silence greeted her. Along with that, the window provided a gorgeous view of planet earth and the surrounding space, so, she couldn't complain.

Drifting over the control panel, a blinking light caught her eye, causing her to stop and glance down at the light. She tilted herself, examining it. What was this? A motion sensor? Her eye widened. Something was approaching the ship, and it was on a collision course! She zipped over to the flight sticks, and projected her beam of light. Gently, or what she hoped was gently, she moved the ship out of the way. She waited, metaphorically biting her nails hoping that the object missed them. Slowly, outside the window, the object drifted into few, avoiding the ship as it passed by the window. Buggy sighed in relief. That was a close one. She glanced at the object, trying to see what it was. She stopped, blinking, then focused. Was that what she thought it was?

She moved close to the window, staring. Yes, it was. Debris! A ship, or what was left of one, had just drifted by. A guardian's ship! She recognized the design. It was blackened, and was missing it back right half. A large hole was gaping from the front, where the cockpit should be. Something was in there. She squinted, the lept back in shock. There, barely hanging within the ship, was a body! The Guardian! There armor was blackened, and the helmet cracked terribly. A large, gaping hole was in the torso, glowing faint red. Red tendrils, like veins, snaked out from the hole, wrapping around the guardian's body and staining them red. What in the world was that? She glanced behind her, then back to the ruined ship, her beam of light materializing and zapping the controls. Slowly, the ship began moving forward. If she could just get a little closer…

A buzz of static caused Buggy to jump, resulting in the ship jerking violently to the side as Buggy yelped in surprise. A loud crash sounded from the back, followed by a loud yelp and cursing, but Buggy ignored this, instead focusing on the voice now coming through the radio.

"Buggy, come in. Can you hear me?"

"Yes! Yes, I can hear you Tri."

"You're in the clear. Please bring my ship to the Tower, but don't drop anyone off. Come straight to the landing pad. Understand?"

"Sure thing boss. We'll be down in a jiffy!"

"Be sure you tell the other first. Saberlinx out."

The communication cut off as quickly as it had started. Buggy sighed softly. Time to get moving again. She glanced back out the window, but was surprise to see that the wrecked ship was gone. No trace of it. She shook her head. Maybe she had just been seeing things. She turned and the door opened, revealing a red faced and p***ed off Amber.


Crystal walked down the hall slowly, reading some articles that she had pulled up on her data pad. Because of this, she was unaware of the door opening in front of her, and of the person exiting the door. With a comedic crash, the two collided, collapsing onto the floor. A stunned Crystal lay on the flood in shock as a flustered Theo quickly stood up, his face red from embarrassment.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! Are you alright?" He reached down a hand, which Crystal accepted.

"Yes Theo. I'm fine." She chuckled. "I'm the one that should apologize, not you. Silly me who's strolling down the halls with my nose in my data pad." She reached down and snatched up.

"True. But I'm still sorry." Crystal glanced at him, and smirked at his still red face.

"Of course."

Theo chuckled nervously, but nodded. Crystal shook her head in amusement, but then stopped, noticing something. She leaned towards Theo, and extended her hand. He leaned back slightly, raising a brow at her.

"Ah Crystal, what are you doing?" Crystal ignored him, and ran a few fingers through a layer of black fluid which was sticking to his left arm. She pulled it away, rubbing her fingers together before spreading them. The fluid stretched into sickening strands, and began running down her fingers. She stared at it, surprised and confused before turning and looking at Theo, a brow raised.

"What is this?" She lifted her hand up so he could see it. His face contorted with confusion, but also paled slightly. It was barely noticeable, even to Crystal, but still defiantly there.

"What the?" He glanced at his arm, and began wiping it off.

"Honestly, I have no clue how this got here. Maybe one of my machines is leaking fuel."

Crystal glanced at him, as if not convinced, but she said didn't speak of it.

"Is it urgent?"

Theo thought a moment before shaking her head.

"Naw. I'm sure it's nothing."

Again, Crystal found this odd, but said nothing. Theo wasn't the type of guy to keep secrets, especially from her. They were friends after all.

"Did your experiment with the Mote of Light go well?"

"No. The compound was too volatile. It self-terminated before it could stabilize. Melted the beaker and spilled white gunk all over the place. I'm surprised I don't have any of that on me. But, I won't give up. When Veronica and Jess get back, I'll ask them for more Motes. Maybe I'll even be able to convince Jess to cash in on all the Motes she hasn't clamed."

"How many is that exactly?"

Theo shrugged. "Who knows? From what I can tell, she's never claimed a single one yet, so it's got to be a large number."

Crystal nodded. Suddenly, a third guardian appeared, walking down the hall. Crystal glanced up at them, then rose a brow. A hunter? Strange. Hunters rarely came to the Warlock section. The hunter was an Awoken, male. He had dark hair and green eyes. His armor was camouflage green, and was wearing an On the Marsh cloak. Crystal rose a brow. She didn't recognize him. Theo glanced, at him, then smirked, waving. Apparently, he knew him.

"Hey Jacob! Where you off too?"

"Heading north man. An entire town has apparently disappeared in one night, and my bro thinks that it might be paranormal related." The hunter smirked, earning a groan and eyeroll from Crystal.

"Anyway, I going to check it out. See if I can't find anything spooky, though Sasha thinks it's just going to be a Hive nest." He shrugged, then continuing down the hall. Crystal watched him go.

"So, how do you know that guy?"

Theo chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"He ahh, he actually comes to me regularly asking about stuff he finds in the wild. Garbage mostly. Aside from that, he's worked with me in the past, including on some of my more unusual missions."

"He seems to be a little bit, off."

"Yeah. He used to spend a lot of time around Hive artifacts, but Cayde told him to lay off. Said it was, scarring his mind."

They both chuckled, and Crystal nodded.

"Yep, sounds about right. Hive stuff will do that to you."

Theo nodded, glancing back at his room door before shaking his head. As he rounded a corner, he scrapped his arm against it, cleaning the slime from his arm. He needed to be more careful.


Liara lay on the floor, her face flushed purple as she bit her lip, both from embarrassment and the pain from her tumble. Her eyes were also shut tightly, trying to ignore Amber's crotch which was right in her face after their unfortunate tumble. Swearing loudly, Amber clambered off her, her face bright red and her eyes wide. Meanwhile, Shepard stifled a laugh, shoving a small pile of weapons off of her as she stood up and tried not to laugh aloud at Liara and Amber's previous position. Walking over quickly, Shepard dropped to a knee, placing a hand on Liara's shoulder to help her up while Amber stormed off towards the cockpit. Liara's eyes opened slowly, and she glanced at a snickering Shepard.

"Don't you dare mention this to anyone, not even Garrus!"

"I can't promise anything, but I'll certainly try."

Patting her on the shoulder, Shepard helped Liara to her feet, her face still flushed purple from embarrassment.

"Hey, why do you look so embarrassed? I thought you were ok a with girls."

Her eyes widening, Liara's face turned an even darker shade of purple, earning a bark of laughter from Shepard.

"Relax Liara, I'm only kidding."

Liara seemed to calm some, but her face was still purple as she glared at Shepard. Luckily, or maybe not, the tension was broken by the reappearance of Amber, the small drone Buggy following behind.

"We have begun the landing process. Excusing any more incidents," she glared at Buggy, who back up slightly, her eye downcast, "we should be landing in about five minutes."

"Well, that's good."

"What will be there once we arrive?" Amber glanced at Liara, who was leaning against the wall, avoiding eye contact.

"Well, from what Buggies told me, it sounds like we'll be touching down in the hanger bay. Also, we are not allowed to leave right away, most likely meaning there's going to be an armed greeting party waiting for us."

Shepard sighed. "Great. Nothing like treating her as a criminal for a first impression. But at least we're heading down."

Amber glanced at her, but said nothing, turning her attention back to the door. A few minutes after the landing, the ship shuddered and the door let out a hiss. Liara held her breath as the door slowly moved down, creating a ramp to the ground. Amber walked out first, followed by a limping Liara, then by Shepard. Liara gasped quietly upon seeing the hanger bay. It was large, very large, and several strange ships rest on the ground or hung from racks in the ceiling. Several lifts were built into the floor, some with ships on them, others without. However, what caught her attention the most was the five figures waiting outside for her.

The first was someone she recognized, Tri. He stood tall, hands crossed behind his back as he seemed to smile at them. To his right was a human woman, wearing a purple outfit that resembled robes. Her skin was dark, and she lacked the hair that most humans had. She stood straight, her arms crossed as she studied Liara with the same intensity that she would use for studying prothean artifacts. She might even be a scholar herself. To the right of the woman was another robot, like Tri, including the horn like projection on his forehead. However, this robot had blue plating and eyes, unlike Tri's green. His armor was lighter, with a look that suggested mobility over protection. It was very similar to Amber's, including the hood and cape, which was currently pulled up over the bot's head. On either side of the three were bulky figures, their armor thick and intimidating, similar to Tri's. They both had weapons in their heads, and held them loosely in their direction. This must be the armed greeting party that Amber had mentioned.

Upon reaching the bottom of the ramp, the bot stepped forward, a smirk forming on his face as he spread his arms.

"Welcome to the Tower visitor. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Cayde-6, I'm the Hunter Vanguard here in the Tower." He extended a hand towards Liara. She glanced at his hand, noticing how they all watched her. Tri had a smiled, and nodded her on, the human studied her, waiting for her response, while the two guards watched critically, ready to act if necessary. So, Liara stood up as straight as she could, smiled softly, then shook the bots hand.

"Liara T'soni, archeologist and ally of Commander Shepard."

The bot, or Cayde, rose a brow, glancing at Shepard. Suddenly, the human female appeared next to him, extending a hand of her own.

"Ikora Rey, Warlock Vanguard. It is a pleasure to meet you Miss T'soni."

Liara blushed slightly, but shook Ikora's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Tri and Amber have told me much about you guardians."

"Tri said a lot about you as well, but he never mentions you looked like this." Cayde whistled softly, earning a glare from Ikora.

"Yes, well. I apologize Miss T'soni for the armed greeting. We are an endangered people and we have enemies on every side. Even now, we still don't trust you, but I am getting the feeling that that will soon change." She smiled softly, placing a hand on Liara's shoulder. Liara smiled back, then followed the small group up a flight of stairs, and into the tower.


Mirvia crouched behind a boulder, keeping a low profile to hid from her attackers. A Fallen kill team had tracked her down in the wastes, and ambushed her when she left her hideout. Luckily, it was only a temporary hide out, more of a sleeping hole than anything else, so she wasn't heartbroken over it being compromised. They may have got the jump on her, but they were still inferior to her. Her heightened senses alerted her of them before they even fired the first shot. She'd slipped out without a scratch, and had maneuvered behind them. She glanced out from around her bolder, spotting a golden vandal with a wire rifle. Kings. She should have known. Even after ten years they still hounded her, unwilling to let the "abomination" live. But, she could care less. The Kings may boast a lot, but their skill was sub-par. Easy kills.

She slipped her newly acquired Thug blade from its sheathe, holding it tight as she slowly moved atop the boulder. The vandal had his back to her, completely unaware of her presence. Miriva slowly crept forward, body lowly and blade ready. She then leapt into the air, and drove the blade into the Vandal's shoulder, severing his arteries. The Vandal went ridged, a pained groan escaping his mouth before Miriva's weight caused him to collapse to the ground, dead. Too easy. However, her gloating was quickly cut short by shrapnel rounds streaking over her head. She quickly tore the blade out and spun around, spotting a Captain flanked by two Dregs. Tough but not impossible.

Moving quick, she leapt up, flying over the shots with unnatural grace. Landing on her hands, she quickly moved into a flip, twirling through the air to dodge shots. She landed perfectly, now only a few feet from one of the Dregs. She quickly brought the blade up, cleaving the Dregs chest wide open. The Dreg screamed in pain, scrambling to hold its chest together as ether erupted outwards, resulting in the Dreg crumbling like a dropped chain. The Captain snarled in protest while the remaining Dreg screamed in fear, running as fast as it could. Miriva snarled at the Captain, holding her blade up as he drew his own swords, then charged.

The Captain started with a double downwards swing, forcing her to roll back to avoid being cut in half. Thinking fast, Miriva reached down, grabbing a handful of dust and throwing at the Captain's face, blinding him. The Captain roared in protest, swiping blindly with his swords as his lower arms tried to clear his eyes. Using this distracting, she charged him, and slammed her fist into his throat. The Captain gagged, stumbling backwards from the blow. Miriva lunged, slamming a palm into his upper right elbow, snapping it. She followed up with a kick to the thigh, cracking it in half. The Captain groaned, collapsing to the ground just in time to catch a blade through the throat, silencing it with a gurgled groan. Blood poured from the wound, coating Miriva's arm and blade with ether. She ignored it, instead turning and running up the hill that the Dreg went up, drawing her modified wire rifle as she went. Reaching the top, she dropped to a knee, and looked through the scope.

Three Dregs, including the one from before, stood behind a wrecked car, alongside a Vandal. Aiming fast, she fired off three shots in rapid succession, her modified rifle lacking the charge time, at the expense of less penetrating power. Two Dregs lost their heads in a burst of ether and the third lost a leg, screaming in pain. The Vandal dove for cover, leaving the last Dreg flailing on the ground. Peaking its head back out, the Vandal quickly scanned the area, but saw no sign of hostiles. With a snarl, it raised its rifle and silenced the screaming Dreg with a shot to the head. Silence returned to the land, the wind whistling softly, unnerving the Vandal. A low growl sounded from behind him, causing him to slowly turn and face its source. Miriva's green eyes and exposed teeth greeted him, followed by a blade punching through his skull, ending his life.

Yanking the blade out, Miriva ran her fingers along the edge cleaning off the ether. Dropping to a knee, she quickly searched the body for valuables. Returning to the Captain, she pulled out shock cores and rations along with something else. She rose a brow, lifting a small metal tube up so she could look at it. It was about four inches long, and had a blue ring surrounding a metal cap on one end. Small engravings of the Fallen's language covered its surface.

-Critical Message- High Rank Devils only.

She turned the tube around in her hand. This wasn't a King's message, it was a Devils. Must have been stolen by the real messenger. She rose a thumb, and pressed down on the top, causing the tube to shudder slightly before it hissed, and the top popped up, unlocking. Slowly, she pulled the top up, sliding it open and revealing a sheet of red, folded metal. The metal unraveled, revealing more writing engraved in the metal.

"Findings reveal positive. Presence of major Hive activity in the Southern region. Intelligence suggests infighting between two factions. Appearance of new fire based Hive most unsettling, shows that a new sect has risen, one that opposes Blood of Oryx. If new Hive are bold enough to oppose the god of the Hive, who knows the power they could obtain. Must contact House Dust, ask for information regarding new Hive. House of Exile might prove useful if threat is great. Consider contact of both. Signing out.

Miriva's eyes widened. A Fallen house that has information on the Hive. The knowledge she could gain. She stood, pocketing the tube. She needed to locate a Devil's lair. Immediately.


Shepard stood by the door, watching as her friend spoke with the Warlock Vanguard. She herself had never spoken with the woman, but from what she could see and what she had heard, she sounded like a decent person. The type that Liara was no doubt having a blast speaking with, and if her smiles said anything, she was correct. She hadn't seen her this happy since they discovered that Prothean Beacon buried under a Batarian prison, and it brought a smile to Shepard's face.

"Well, it seems that their getting along pretty well."

She turned, facing and approaching Cayde, the Hunter Vanguard. He smirked at her, his mouth faintly glowing orange as he stood next to her, glancing into the window then back at Shepard.

"So. You're the Shepard that Tri's been talking about." He glanced her over.

"You're not as much of a butch as your description makes you out to be."

She blinked, caught off guard by the bluntness.

"Ahh. Thanks. You're not as big of a spark plug as Amber says you are."

Cayde snorted, chuckling.

"Yeah. Amber likes to exaggerate and tell stories. Part of her charm."

"Charming. That's exactly what Amber is.

They stood in silence for a moment, watching as Liara used her hands to speak to Ikora, a large smirk on her face. Cayde then turned back to Shepard.

"Speaking of stories, care to explain how a guardian such as yourself came to meet and befriend a new species. I know I'm not the Titan Vanguard, but still, I'm curious."

Shepard's eyes widened, and her face paled. Her mind scrambled for a response. Slowly, one formed in her mind, so she spoke.

"I… I uhmmm." She sighed, rubbing her head.

"I can't lie. I'm not from around here. I'm from and alternate time your Light and Darkness never existed. There, humanity is thriving. We have allies, one of them being Liara's species the Asari. She, along with someone else, came here through unknown means."

She glanced at Cayde, who stared at her with wide eyes, a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Uh, well then. That might be one of the strangest things I've ever heard. But, considering what I've seen in the wilds, I'm willing to accept it. Also, I'm guessing that because of that story you're not actually a guardian?"

Shepard simply stared at him, saying nothing.

"Well, Tri speaks highly of you. And he's a close friend of mine so, I'll keep this quiet."

Shepard stared in stunned silences, earning a chuckle from Cayde.

"Don't look at me that way. You make me feel like I insulted your mother or something."

Shaking her head, Shepard turned and faced the window again, letting her mind relax some.

"Thank you Cayde."

"No trouble at all, just don't tell Zavala that stuff. He's less understanding then me."

She nodded slowly, making sure to keep that in mind.


Jacobs sprinted between the trees, dodging searing bolts of energy that flew over his head. He spun, firing off three shots into the dark, hoping to hit something. He was rewarded by a high-pitched scream of pain, echoing from the shadows behind. However, he didn't have time to celebrate. He immediately turned back around and ran, hoping to gain more distance between him and them.

How long he ran, he couldn't tell. Long enough for him to run out of rifle ammo, leaving him with only his fusion rifle. A bolt struck his leg, causing him to scream in pain, his shields shattering as the bolt burned through his armor, searing his flesh. He dropped to the ground, cursing loudly from the impact. He glanced down at his leg, horror rising in his chest as he saw the open wound, blood oozing from the cracked armor. The ground crunched nearby loudly, causing him to flatten himself out on the ground. He stared from underneath the log as clawed feet slowly walked by, stalking him. Searching for him.

He watched as the beast slowly left his line of sight, the crunching quieting, but never leaving. Slowly, he lifted his hand, his ghost appearing within it.

"Tell the Vanguard that the Delta quadrant of Mexico is compromised. Heavy enemy activity. Unknown hostiles of extreme danger are amassing… "

Jacob screamed as the clawed foot slammed onto his hand, shattering his hand and his ghost with a puff of light and a sickening crunch. He stared up at his attacker's face, its glowing eyes glaring down at him, its face emotionless and blank. Acting fast, he pulled his knife from its sheathe, driving it into the creature's ankle and twisting, resulting in it snapping, dropping the beast to the ground. Releasing his knife as it fell, he quickly drew his fusion rifle and fired it, causing the beast to vaporize into a blue mist. With a groan, Jacob stood back up, staring at his shattered and bleeding hand. Without warning, a sharp pain shot through his spine as a blade chained blade erupted through his shoulder. Immediately after, he was dragged backwards across the ground, back into the dark. Jacob screamed and groaned as he collided with trees and rocks, before finally smashing into a large tree. He nearly blackened out, his head ringing from the impact. Slowly, he looked up, and spotted another attacker, glaring down at him, its eyes glowing red. Slowly, the blank face leaned forward, staring into his soul.

"Powerful Guardian. Strong light and will. You are a prime specimen. You will do nicely."

The beast swung a fist, and Jacob knew no more.


Authors Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We finally get another sneak peek at the enemy. Anyway, I hope that the interactions were suitable, and that my characters are still enjoyable. Can't guarantee the speed of the next release. I start collage next week, and I doubt I'll have tons of time. However, I will never give up this story. I have it all planned out, and I plan on sharing it. Please review and theorize. Tell me what you think will happen or what has happened. I hope to hear from you guys. Until next time. ZOMAN OUT!