A/N: Big thanks to my friend xXCShepardXx for letting me mention Xanthe and Oniks in this chapter (And go check out A Hunter's Tale - Feron on her page)!
The Hellmouth
"This is an insult to Hunters everywhere." Dak held Kahlee's shotgun as though it were a wriggling monster.
"Oh come on, don't Bladedancers use shotguns sometimes?" Kahlee chided.
"Yes, they do. And I don't like Bladedancers. Bunch of posers."
Bill sputtered laughing. "Posers?! Didn't a 'Dancer save your sorry hide once?"
"Xanthe, yes. But that doesn't count, that crazy sister of hers was there, too."
"Ooh, if Oniks heard you call her crazy, you'd probably need a new body and a memory wipe."
Dak chuckled. "Yeah, she's nuts. Anyway, we're coming up on the other end of this pass."
Val flew in front of the group. "Wait a minute, I'm not getting a good reading on that area. That jamming signal is getting stronger every meter we go forward. We should proceed with caution."
"Sounds like we've got our dark zone." Bill said.
"You got that right. Who knows what's happening around this bend?" Cee looked back at his Guardian.
Bill flipped the safety off of his rifle, and motioned with his hand to move forward. As they rounded the corner, the path gradually widened into a large, open area. At the center of it, the large pit spoken of by Ikora. Bill's body went cold as he sensed the Darkness flowing through this area. But while his gut told him something was watching him, his eyes refused to believe the same thing.
"Nothing. There's no one here. This is where all those Exiles came from, this area should be lousy with them."
"Lunch break, maybe?" Dak asked as he tossed Kahlee's shotgun back to her, thankful to be rid of it.
"Who knows? But I don't like this. Let's split up, get a good recon of this place, and maybe find a place to camp tonight. But stay away from that pit. I'd rather not piss off an ancient evil tonight."
As the three Guardians split, Bill summoned Cee to his side.
"What can I do for you?"
"I want your take on this. What do you think we're up against?"
Cee's shell tightened up to his eye. "Honestly? I'm at a loss. For the first time, I've got nothing for you. Whatever has us blacked out is more powerful than anything in the Cryptarch's library."
"Could it be Rasputin?"
"Doubtful. Based on what I can pull from the information Zavala gave to the Ghosts, there are no known Warmind bunkers on the Moon. And the signal that's being used doesn't match any of the frequencies used by Rasputin. I have no knowledge of this signal. Completely unidentified. I can't match it to any known patter-"
Bill held up a hand to stop his companion as he knelt by a set of tracks. "These are definitely Vandal tracks. These aren't that old, maybe from a few hours ago." Bill examined the impression left in the lunar dust, and followed them up a small incline and towards a narrow crack in the crater wall ahead of him, barely big enough for a Guardian to pass through. Inside of the crater, there was another set of buildings, long deserted and left frozen in time. The lettering on the sides was in a language he had not seen in ages.
"Is that... French?"
Cee scanned the side of the building. "Yep. From the looks of it, this facility was built and abandoned during the Golden Age, just before the Collapse. I can't get much of a reading, but the computers inside this building are all dead. Which is odd, considering that pre-Golden Chinese h3 plant still had power to spare."
"That is strange. Is something draining all the power from these structures?"
Cee bobbed up and down. "I can't tell, my scans are being limited, and that jamming signal is stronger than ever."
Bill followed the Vandal's tracks all the way up to where it lay dead. It appeared to have been on patrol when it was shot in the back. Judging by the placement of the wounds on the unfortunate Vandal, and by the way it fell, his best guess was that its assailant had attacked from high elevation with a pulse rifle. As he checked the area around it, he noticed a second set of tracks leading up to, and then away from the corpse. They were not Fallen, but human. Or at the very least, a bipedal humanoid.
"Cee, any Guardian activity here prior to our arrival?"
"No recent Fireteam missions or solo Guardian patrols on record."
"I don't like that. This is a fresh kill."
Bill activated his comm, but received only static. He rotated his squad channels, to the same result.
"Dammit, now we don't even have short range. Cee, can you prep one of my grenades? And do me a favor, make it Solar."
"Sure thing." Cee materialized the glowing orb into Bill's hands, and winding up as hard as he could, he threw the makeshift flare into the air. It exploded a few seconds later, casting a giant glowing ball of fire above his position. He sat down to wait for his teammates to arrive.
After a few minutes, Kahlee and Dak both shimmied their way through the crack in the crater.
"You know, the inventor of the radio is probably spinning in his grave right now." Dak said as he walked up to Bill.
"Short range is dead now. You must have found that out."
"Well, yeah. But I can never pass up a chance to ruffle feathers."
Kahlee lightly pushed the Hunter out of her way. "What is this place?"
Bill looked around for a moment. "Some kind of French complex. Long abandoned, more recent than that Chinese building, but no power signatures on any of the electronics. If you'll recall, the computers still worked in the first structure."
"That's more than just a coincidence. We should make camp here."
"No," Bill began. "There's a dead Vandal about 20 meters away, behind that building. My best guess is that he was killed less than a few hours ago. And whatever killed him wasn't Fallen, but it was also no Guardian. This area is being watched."
Dak shrugged. "Options?"
"I say we double back out of here, and seek shelter underneath that rock bridge where we entered from. Take cover in the rocks, get some rest, and rotate watch."
Kahlee nodded. "It's better than camping out in the open."
One by one, the Guardians edged their way out of the crater.