The Cosmodrome
"Jeez, no matter how many times they tell me it's impossible, I swear I can still smell the ether through the filters." Bill popped the seals on his helmet and pulled it off. A team of dead Dreg lay scattered around his feet. As the night air hit his face, the stink of the ether leaking from the bodies became ever more pungent. His nose wrinkled, and he shifted upwind of the Fallen corpses.
"I've got to get the damn quartermaster to take another look at this thing." He checked the seals on his helmet's air filters, frowning as he worked.
Bill looked up from his helmet as Dak-12, his team's Hunter and resident sharpshooter, approached him. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"
"Actually, I agree. I don't even HAVE a sense of smell, and I can still smell this crap." Dak chuckled as he sat down beside Bill to clean his sniper rifle, a gift from the Tower gunsmith.
"I'm kind of getting used to it. Maybe I'll make a cologne out of this stuff, someday." Bill laughed to himself as he finished his repairs and put his helmet back on. The Titan rose to his feet.
"Okay, NOW I think you're crazy."
"You're both crazy, how about that?" Kahlee's voice crackled on the comlink. "I've finished my circle, and I'm heading back now. Please try to sort yourselves out before I get back."
"Last time I checked, Kahlee, I was the one giving orders. Now Dak, sort yourself out before Kahlee gets back, please? You know how much she dislikes everything fun." Bill pointed a finger towards Dak and pretended to scold him.
"Sorry, Fireteam Leader." Dak's voice took on a similar sarcastic tone as Bill's.
Bill heard Kahlee scoff, even over the whine of her Sparrow's engine which filled the comm channel. "Why do I even bother? Trying to talk sense into a Titan is like trying to convince the Fallen that Ghosts aren't worth stealing."
"I miss you too, Kahlee. Hurry back."
"On my way." The comm channel fell silent again.
Dak slid the bolt out of his rifle and went over it with a rag. "She seems pleasant today."
"She's a Warlock, what do you expect?" Bill picked up his auto rifle and placed it on his back. He opened his palm, and his Ghost sprang to life, its clean white shell with orange accents mirrored Bill's own armor.
"Cee, any more targets in the area?"
The tiny robot hummed for a moment as Bill watched the scan pulses sweep over the Cosmodrome through his heads-up display. "Nothing within range worth worrying about. Looks like there's a skiff about half a klick to the East, but they're bugging out. Admirers of your handy work, perhaps?" The back half of his shell did several full rotations as the scan finished.
"Who knows? Thanks, Cee. Put me through to Zavala, might as well give him something to smile about today."
If he even knows how, he thought to himself.
As he waited for the comms link to establish, the sound of an approaching Sparrow shifted his gaze to his left. Kahlee's speeder came over the ridge near him and came to a halt next to Dak, who hastily covered his disassembled rifle with his cloak to keep the dust cloud the Sparrow kicked up from ruining his cleaning work.
She dismounted her Sparrow, and her Ghost sent it away via transmat. She took off her own helmet, her white hair clashing against her light blue skin.
"Anything worth noting out there?" Dak brushed off his cloak and continued to work on his weapon.
"Nothing. I can't explain it. Not one ping on my tracker the whole time I was out there."
"That's impossible. They were all over us just now. They couldn't have just disappeared, even the Fallen aren't THAT good at hiding. Cee even said there was a Skiff half a klick east."
"Quiet," Bill snapped at them as the team's channel crackled to life again.
"Zavala. Report, Fireteam Orion." The veteran Titan's voice was as stern and professional as ever.
"Contacts at the Skywatch have been neutralized, sir. There's nothing left on scans."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive, sir."
Zavala sighed. "That's what I was afraid of. Return to the City, Guardians. We need to talk."
"Roger that, Commander. Over and out."
Dak pieced the rest of his rifle together, and slung it over his back as he stood. "Anyone else think this whole situation is more than a little unusual?"
"A little. Why would the Fallen just turn tail and run all of a sudden? This area is filled with salvage, I've never seen them abandon a place like this before, especially not the Devils. They've never given up on a salvage op." Kahlee called her own Ghost, a vibrant blue shell bobbing in her hand.
"Val, bring the ship around. We're heading home."
"Well, it's about time. I'm getting a little tired of this place."
Dak and Bill did the same, and soon the three Guardians were headed to the Tower, home of the Guardians.