The Overlook They had been walking for hours. They would take a path, walk it for a few hundred yards, then find it led to a wall or to a precipice that fell into nothingness. They had to walk slowly, light was scarce in the tunnels. Brale - HERE! A platform. It appears this path terminates here. Kabr - Anything there? Brale - No, only a massive expanse of empty darkness. Kelvin - Perhaps we can rest here? Brale - Getting tired old exo? Kelvin - No, I’d simply like to stand on level ground for a few moments. They stopped and accessed their surroundings. There was a massive vista of darkness in front of them. The drop off could have been over a mile…it was too dark to tell. To the left there was hole in the wall, their next likely move. Brale was sitting by Kelvin and Praedyth, he has convincing Praedyth to look over his shotgun to try and increase the range on it. Preus was sitting on a Vex formation staring at the armor with his Ghost close at hand. Pahanin watched Preus like a hawk. Preus - Why do you think it uncoupled from the Praetorian? Preus’s Ghost - Not sure, the attachment process of Vex armor is unknown to us. It is oddly shaped for their size, it doesn’t cover their abdomen very well, and it leaves quite a bit of space between joints. Pahanin’s ghost felt free to appear and float over to Preus, it wanted a better look at the armor. Pahanin’s Ghost - Interesting, look at the fusion points on the armor, they are clean. Have you looked to see if it would line-up on your armor? Preus - You mean like it does on Kabr’s? With that, the group went quiet, and everyone turned to look at Kabr. Well, it was out in the open now, Kabr was wearing Vex armor over his own. Preus - So…how did you attach it? Kabr - I’m not sure. After defeating a Praetorian during my original scouting of the area I felt a strange sensation, a desire to line the armor up with my own. Upon contact the two metals fused together. The armor is actually quite comfortable. Preus - You just…held it to your armor…? As Preus asked he held the armor piece to his arms, and they immediately fused together. Everyone stood up and stared in wonderment. Pahanin took a defensive stance. Preus - Wow, it added no weight to my armor even though I could feel its weight when it was in my hand. Preus quickly grabbed another piece, part of the Praetorians chest plate, and fused it to his chest. Pahanin - Stop! You do not understand what that could do. Preus - What? The Vex is dead, its armor is inactive. Pahanin - Then how did it know to fuse when held to your armor? Preus didn’t answer, but immediately began looking at the rest of the armor pieces, all while his ghost continued to scan him. Pahanin walked over to Kabr. Pahanin - Stop this. Kabr - Why? The armor could add a tactical advantage. Pahanin - We don’t fully understand how the armor could affect him. Kabr - It did not affect me. Better to allow the Warlock to continue his experiment. Pahanin - Are you sure you do not feel anything from the armor? To be honest, Kabr had felt something, but that feeling came long before he put on any piece of Vex armor. Kabr’s mind had been set on the Vault of Glass since before he knew what it was. He had seen the entrance in his dreams, and his dreams had offered him flashes of insight. He saw the sink plates to gain entrance. He saw yellow suns that sung to him. He could smell and hear the crashing of the ocean. He saw a sky with no stars, only the deepest Darkness he could imagine. These dreams visited him over and over again, as if they were memories of a different life. Kabr, in his deepest thoughts, believed he was being contacted by the Traveller. He did not share this with anyone for fear of what they would say. But he also feared this secret could not remain his for long. Kabr - Let us continue our course. The group moved to the hole in the wall, and they followed it until they reached another massive opening. Before them were platforms that hugged the right side of the expanse. Kabr was the first to jump, and when he felt it was safe he had the rest follow. They continued along the path until they saw a outcropping, and in the distance a large Vex temple. This place felt familiar to Kabr. Kabr - Setup camp at the outcropping, we will monitor the temple below. Brale - Is it time to sleep already? I’ve lost all track of time. Kelvin - Strange, I keep looking at my chronograph, but it shows we have only been in the Vault a few minutes. Pahanin - Ghost, how is your internal clock? Pahanin’s Ghost - Unknown. If I time the passing of a second with my internal stopwatch, they measure time differently. Kabr - This is a place where time will be difficult to measure. Is there no good way to determine the passage of time? Praedyth - We can use the internal Arc-generator on my pulse rifle. It recharges on a regular rate, and since the reaction occurs at the same rate we can use the repetitive nature of the charger to keep a track on time. The recharge takes 5 minutes and I can track it from the last time it was fired, right before we entered the Vault. Ghost, affix a small digital readout on the rifle to capture how many recharges it completes so when I fire it we do not lose the time. Praedyth’s ghost appeared, it was different looking then the rest, apparently Praedyth found it necessary to modify her ghost as well. Kabr wondered if the ghost objected to the modifications. Preus - Nice timepiece mom. Kabr - It will suffice. Can you tell us how long we have been in the Vault? Praedyth - According to the charge rate, about 14 hours. Kabr - That means we have been on Venus for over a day without rest. Setup camp. Preus, please begin scanning the Vex temple with your sniper rifle, let me know if you see anything. You will take first watch with me. The rest sleep. In 4 hours we will wake Praedyth and Kelvin to take over. Brale - Actually, I was hoping to shoot the shit with Kelvin, can I trade with Pahanin? Kabr - That is fine. The others fell asleep, and Kabr stared across the cavern at the temple. It never ceased to amaze Kabr how soldiers could sleep anywhere and at any time. Kabr looked up at the darkness in the sky and he could not see the roof of the cavern. Kabr - The sky is empty of stars. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/100607273]Links to the 16 chapters...[/url]