Chapter 8

The silence did not last long as a clamor of voices soon filled the cave. I listened as other Guardians tried to figure out what they had just watched. Some thought it looked entertaining while others expressed fear or curiosity. Regardless, few wanted to sit here and wait it out.

I removed my helmet and ran my hands over my face, taking in a deep breath and letting it out with a rush. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back against the seat and tried to replay the events in my head, but found that only allowed weariness to catch up with me. The only rest I'd had in the last few days had been the short catnap between the Moon and the Tower, and since then I'd traipsed over what felt like half of Venus, been in multiple gun fights, and died somewhere in that process. Ghosts might be able to get us back on our feet quickly, but that still took a lot out of a person. This, however, was clearly not the time to sleep.

Getting to my feet, I decided to take a quick tour of our temporary shelter. The size of the main room reminded me of the cafeteria of an old school building I had come across. Dozens of Guardians milled about, and it looked like there was plenty room for more. There were a few openings along the wall that revealed other rooms. I assumed the one I had seen the cots being removed from must be storage. There were no signs to give any clues to the purposes of the others.

Taking some time to actually study the cave, I could see sections of the walls that looked different than others. There were places that were clearly the natural wall, as well as places that people had worked on. Of that, some of the digging looked to have been done hastily, where as others places looked smooth. The placement of the plasteel beams was a little more haphazard than I had noticed at first glance as well. Even so, it was impressive that a place like this had been hollowed out essentially under the Vex's nose. So to speak.

The cafeteria impression was reinforced slightly by the large area toward one corner set up to provide food and drink. A drink suddenly sounded very appealing, so I made my way over. I didn't expect anything fancy, which is just as well as they were only stocked with basic supplies. Accepting some water, I took a drink. It was surprisingly cool. I wanted to take a moment to enjoy it, but suddenly heard an obnoxious buzz emanating from my helmet. Elgan had something he wanted to share. Finishing the drink quickly, I put the headgear back on.

"I've done quite a bit of digging," the Ghost began. "I've had to listen in on some channels I probably shouldn't have, but it has been quite informative. Most of this is coming from something called 'Owl Sector'. Never heard of it before, but they seem to be some clandestine scouting group. Along the lines of Ikora's 'Hidden' perhaps? Anywho, reports indicate that there are five different types of these electronic mites and the prevailing theory is that they originate from Clovis Bray research facilities on Mars and were released recently by parties unknown. Possibly Fallen, though that doesn't make sense."

"Any more information on what was happening with the Guardians in the Crucible or the effects of these 'mites'?"

"What we saw in the video seems pretty consistent with other reports; Guardians acting ecstatic, the floating lights, occasionally hovering off the ground, stating they feel more powerful than normal. They also seem to actively seek out other Guardians and try to infect them as well. It's all very strange."

"That seems to be an understatement. Keep me updated as anymore reports come in," I replied.

"Of course. There was something else I wanted to tell you. I believe I have made some progress on the possible identity of our Hunter 'friend' from the Moon."

"You did? What have you got?"

"Based on armor, speech patterns, and movements, I have narrowed it down to a handful of suspects. I have compiled some still images and video..."

"Show me," I stated, cutting him off.

"... that I can show you. Ahem," he made an irritated noise in my ear, and then my HUD went blank. Seconds later, video of a Crucible match began replaying. It showed a Hunter in Future War Cult garb engaged in a Clash match on Firebase Delphi. The Hunter had circled around the interior hallway and slipped behind the opposing team. He ignited his Arc Blade and cut them down before sprinting to another location.

"Skip to the next one," I said, and the image shifted, giving me another Hunter dashing around the Anomaly, darting into the cavern and igniting his blade to take out a Titan and Warlock as they tried for a heavy ammo drop.

"Next." A Hunter sniping another Hunter at Twilight Gap. "Next." Three shots from a hand cannon followed up with a Blink Strike. "Next." Another snipe, this time on Pantheon followed by a hand motion.

"Wait," I interjected, feeling myself stand up a little straighter, "play that one again." The Hunter had taken up a common position near the drop in point, facing down a long corridor. Snipers from both teams often lined up at opposing ends and tried to take out each other or any other Guardian foolish enough to enter their lane. The Hunter readied his sniper rifle and fired. Two reports, two head-shots, two opposing Guardians down. Then the Hunter lowered his rifle, and gave a mocking salute before turning and sprinting off in a different direction.

"That's him," I stated. "That's the same thing he did right before transmatting out with all the relics."

"So it is," Elgan murmured. "Pulling up more information now. Hunter Jaeger-10. Exo, obviously. Has been with the War Cult for a number of years. Active, but very little information public. Seems secretive, like most of the Cult. Vanguard records indicate excellent mission success rate and impressive Crucible statistics. Never seeks recognition for either, however. Current whereabouts: unknown."

"Blast. Well, it's not like we could go after him right now with the quarantine in place anyway. Keep digging, find out anything more you can."

"Of course," the Ghost stated flatly.

"Oh, and Elgan? Nice work," I told him, which got a happy little trill out of him. I reached up and removed my helmet to find Celeste standing directly in front of me, grinning. She had removed her helmet as well, along with other bits and pieces of her armor, making herself more comfortable.

"So, what do you think?" she asked sweeping her hand in a grand gesture to encompass the cavern.

"I'm impressed. What is this place, exactly?"

"It's a cave," she deadpanned and stared at me for a moment before smiling again. "It was a Hunter haven, a place where we could hide out when we were on Venus for long stretches. When that strike team raided the Vault of Glass and took down Atheon, some Guardians felt like we were going to start pushing back the Vex, and they began expanding our little cave to make it an honest to goodness base of operations on Venus. That didn't exactly happen, but it hasn't stopped them from continuing to try."

"Well, given everything that is happening now, I'm glad they didn't give up."

"I guess", she replied. "I have to say, I'm not really sure why the Vanguard has us hiding from this. It looks harmless enough. Even a little fun."

"Judging by the room," I said, gesturing to the gathered Guardians as we made our way back to where I had been sitting before, "you're far from the only Guardian to feel that way. Unsurprisingly, it seems to be mostly Hunters who share that sentiment. Half the Warlocks seem to want to be infected too, but for study purposes. It's times like this that remind me that Titans are about the only Guardians with any sense."

She rolled her eyes at that last part.

"Careful, old man," she said with a smirk, "the room might be more mixed than normal, but the numbers do still favor Hunters. Talk like that might get you tossed out to brave the infection on your own."

I chuckled and settled back into a seat, looking over the crowd once more. Celeste plopped down in the next seat over, swinging her legs over the arm of the chair.

"Maybe the quarantine will end up being a good thing," I mumbled, closing my eyes and resting my head against the chair. "Force everyone to stay still for a little while. How often do we get a respite from fighting the good fight?"

"You know better than that," was the response. "I don't see this holding more than two days tops, regardless of what the Vanguard says. It isn't only because of Hunters either; Guardians of all stripes are driven to go out and do."

"I know," I sighed, "I know. Call it a glimpse into a Titan's dream. Or maybe just mine. Quiet days and a Wall no longer under siege. This would have been a false peace, of course, but..." I shrugged.

"Sounds boring," she stated, then nudged my leg with her foot. "Which tells me why a Titan would like that idea."

I laughed and waved her off, then laced my fingers together and rested my hands on my stomach. I took a deep breath and tried to let events of the last few days go. The sound of someone clearing their throat forced me to open my eyes with a groan. Scott-20 stood nearby, fingers steepled and drumming against each other.

"My apologies for the interruption," he began, "I just wanted to keep you abreast of developments."

"No worries," I said, "pull up a seat."

"Since boarding Celeste's ship, I have been pouring over the Ishtar data," he continued as he sat. "I believe I found exactly what I was looking for. Now, if only I could return to my study. I digress. Upon arrival here, I was able to reach out to Executor Hideo. We were able to establish a strong enough connection to transmit the data from the Ishtar Facility. He sends his regards, and says that your armor will be left with the postmaster and will have green Chroma activated."

"Thanks for letting me know. What did he have to say about the information?"

"After a cursory examination, he seemed most pleased."

"What was it you were looking for anyway?" Celeste asked.

"There were two distinct goals," the Warlock said, adopting a tone that sounded like a professor beginning a lecture. "The Executor was looking for information on Vex weaponry and the composition of their metallic frames in an attempt to improve weapon production at his foundries. I was seeking information regarding Vex Time Gates. The Ishtar Collective had spent much more time studying both than we have be able to as of yet, particularly since they captured a functional specimen. I am greatly anticipating getting back and spending time pouring over it all at greater depth."

"Well, I doubt you'll have to wait long," Celeste replied, "we were just discussing how this quarantine won't last."

"Yes, Guardians are a difficult lot to contain under the best of circumstances," he intoned. "I imagine the quarantine will fall apart shortly. Particularly given the lack of restraint exhibited by infected Guardians thus far."

"I think things are about to take a more serious turn," another voice interrupted. We all looked over to find that Zillah had joined us.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I've had Feivel digging through every bit of information he could find about the infection. He just told me that reports are indicating there have been casualties."

"Guardians?"

"No," she responded. "It was a couple civilians who were working in the Tower. They had contact with an infected Guardian, and initially showed some of the same symptoms. However, it quickly incapacitated them. One is dead, the other nearly so. Thus far, there are no indications that these mites harm Guardians. Whether that will hold, no one knows."

"It's true," Elgan chimed in my ear. "I just found those reports as well. The Vanguard are not going to be happy about that."

Always Mr. Obvious, that Ghost. Within hours, we got their response. A message went out on all bands, this time the same message to all Guardians. The quarantine warning on the view screen in the cave vanished and was replaced by the orange and white on black Vanguard logo, which in turn was replaced by the dark-skinned face of Ikora Rey.

"Greetings, Guardians. I wish I came to you with better news. By now you are all aware of the infection that has been spreading among our ranks. In an attempt to slow the spread of these mites, the Vanguard instituted a quarantine for all Guardians. That has failed. The infection is spreading faster than anyone had anticipated, and now we predict it will reach the entire Guardian population within the week.

"What we have to do now is to protect the rest of humanity from this plague, and from us. While we are uncertain still what long term effect this infection may have on Guardians, we now know that it is lethal to those without the blessings of the Traveler. As such, we are stiffening the restrictions on Guardians entering the Last City, or any other known civilian strongholds. Any Guardian caught attempting to enter one of these locations will be considered an enemy combatant and treated accordingly.

"Keep yourselves safe. Uninfected Guardians, we ask that you strive to remain so. Be watchful for Guardians who have been affected. If you see them attempting to break this command, you are to use lethal force to stop them. May the Traveler's Light keep you all. Ikora out."

With that, Ikora vanished from the screen. It now held the mandate to avoid all civilian locations rather than the previous quarantine notice. The response to this message was louder than before, with several Guardians heading straight for the door as the quarantine was effectively lifted.

"Well, I guess I was too generous with my two day estimate," Celeste said, running a hand through her red hair.

"Did she really just authorize lethal force?" Zillah questioned incredulously.

"Yes, she did," I answered. "I never thought I'd hear the Vanguard authorize the potential death of Ghosts. Clearly, some of the others here are not taking this as seriously as they should."

"What do we do now?" Scott queried.

"The only thing we can do right now. Watch and wait."

…

AN:

Sorry for the delay. I realize that it has been nearly a month since I updated. I will try to be better about posting for all of you who are still following along. Speaking of:

Thanks to ShadowNinjaX12 for the follow, Jayfeattheris Awesome for the favorite, and Wasitora for the follow and favorite!

So I started this fiction with what is now the first chapter intended to be a standalone. I had a vague idea where I wanted to go once I decided to extend it. I finally figured out the end. Now the trick is being patient enough to let it get there on its own. I also have an inspiration for a Tales We'll Tell entry, but it would spoil the end of this fiction, so I have to sit on that as well. Writing one thing while I have something else firing off in my brain is not a strength of mine... one of the reasons I have never finished any of my own fiction. It doesn't help that I was not feeling this chapter at all.