Enjoy! The ship shook at it entered the thin atmosphere of Mars. Gusty winds blew crimson sand across the desert wasteland. Nothing moved. As the ship descended toward the transmat zone the craggy broken planet surface. The crimson sand had reclaimed the surface. Remnants of dead foliage jutted from the sand, pointed spears, white as bone. Meridian Bay had sunk into the planet’s crust leaving a massive sinkhole scarring the planet surface. Alexander checked the radar to no avail. Nothing moved. Materializing to the surface, the weight of his armor pushed into the sand cracking it like frail skin. The desert had reclaimed the Guardian beacon, the remnants of a flag and boxes covered in tarps look untouched for ages. The sand climbed the walls of the boxes and then fluttered off in the westbound breeze. “Oliver,” Alexander started holding his hand out. “Can you get the beacon up and running again so patrols can land safely?” “Give me one second,” Oliver responded materializing over Alexander’s palm. Oliver floated to the beacon. Synchronizing with the internal motherboard, he began to repair the damaged circuits. After a few seconds the beacon flashed to life and began to transmit an audible signal once more. “Hey,” a faint voice whispered through the desert wind. “Did you hear that?” Alexander asked scanning his radar once more. “No, what was it?” “Thought I heard something.” “Keep an eye out, the Cabal are ruthless. If you’re spotted they will not hesitate to take you out.” “Right…” Alexander’s voice trailed as he removed his shotgun from the magnetic holster on his back. “Talk to me about the Cabal.” “Eight feet tall, humanoid, almost rhinoceros like creatures. They are highly militarized, and they have heavy weaponry to back it up. Zavala says they blow up planets and moons for getting in their way, and Ikora once said they are not allowed to return home until they win a war.” “Well then,” Alexander looked down at the new gun in his hands. A letter was attached when it was delivered. [i]Thank you for testing out The Next Big Thing, Hakke would like to extend this as a token of our appreciation. Immobious is unique. Try her out in your Ward of Dawn. Best wishes, Hakke.[/i] It was a solid grey with hints of red speckled across the weapon. It fit his hold well and was balanced appropriately. “The Cabal have locked orbital communications,” Oliver floated by Alexander’s head. “So even if we repaired the beacons, guardians would not be able to materialize to the surface from their ships.” “Got it, find us the nearest Cabal terminal and we will see what we can do.” “Hey,” the mysterious voice echoed out again. Alexander ignored it. Walking across the sands, nothing moved. The wind brushed his armor, almost guiding him to the way point Oliver put up on his HUD. Enormous metal fixtures were built into the sand. Huge bunkers capped with turrets and spotlights protected the entryway to the Cabal outpost. The heavy doors barricading the entryway were sealed shut. “Over here,” the voice grew louder. “I heard that,” Oliver said. “But I can’t pin point the source.” “Ignore it, probably a trick of the wind.” “Probably… we won’t be getting in through the front door but there is an access hatch through the trench. Go there.” Walking into the trench, Alexander looked up as the walls climbed around him. The access hatch surprised him. It was much smaller, barely taller than him. “Let me grab the door,” Oliver floated toward the door and locked interfaces with the mechanism. Within seconds the door slowly slid open. A dull whoosh sounded as partial atmosphere escaped. “Hmm, easier than I thought.” They walked into the shaft, finding their way to the back entrance of a storage room. Huge missiles were stacked on carts all over the place. Crates littered the walls and huge tubes bundling wires crisscrossed the ceiling. “Find me a terminal,” “Hey I’m over here!” the voice grew louder interrupting Oliver. “That was no trick of the wind,” Oliver turned to Alexander. “I’d feel better if there was a possibility of back up before checking that out.” “Agreed, the terminal is up ahead.” The terminal was a large console built into the wall. Illegible language laced the holographic keys. Oliver floated over it for a few seconds before connecting with the mainframe. Hunting down access to shut down the block to communications, a weak firewall blocked his path. It requested an access key. The second Oliver attempted to maneuver around the firewall alarms echoed all over the complex. He turned to Alexander, the apologetic expression implied. A drop ship deployed troops almost immediately after bursting from the atmosphere. It was as if the ship simply dropped into place, warping from its point of origin to the storage facility. “Ass hats I told you I’m over here!” the voice shouted. The doors to the facility slowly slid open. Monstrous Phalanx with their impenetrable shields made up the front line while Legionaries occupied the rear lobbing heavy slugs of exploding material from their launchers. Alexander immediately focused his light in his wrists and ripped them apart. The protective Ward of Dawn shielded him from the explosions. The Phalanx broke and the Legionaries charged in. They were hulking creatures bumbling forward in a reckless charge. They mobbed the dome as Alexander fired round after round from Immobious. The bullets tore the creature’s armor asunder. Bloody heaps fell to the wayside one by one as they attempted to enter the dome. The last one tried to retreat to the Phalanx but Alexander tightened his fist. Void energy surrounded it and as the hammer crashed into the Cabal, it vaporized into purple light. A shield of light surrounded his body and Alexander rushed toward the Phalanx. They closed ranks but were slow. They couldn’t lift their shields in time as Alexander lobbed a grenade between them. It exploded into a void light once then as the Cabal were staggered it exploded a second time. A loud roar filled the sinkhole as a taller hulking monster climbed the gentle slope of sand. Back spikes generated a personal shield for the Centurion. Explosions surrounded Alexander as the Cabal indiscriminately emptied its magazine at him. Diving toward the trench, he was surprised as the creature leapt into the air and landed in front of him. It kicked him back into the sand. The sheer force kicked the air out of his lungs and shattered the light shield. Explosions took down his personal shield before he could catch his breath and hop to his feet. He aimed Immobious at the creature in retaliation and emptied the magazine. The creature stumbled and fell face first into the sand. “Check the god damned crates in the bunker over here retards!” the voice echoed once more. The Cabal alarm had ceased and once again nothing moved. Alexander rolled his eyes and walked into the bunker, the screaming crate relatively easy to find. Alexander stood over the crate, the voice echoing in the Cabal bunker. “Open the damned crate!” the voice cried out. “I don’t think we should,” Oliver interjected. "The Cabal still have orbital communication locked, I need an access key from one of the leaders." Alexander turned his head scanning the area around him. Silence competed with and lost to the outbursts coming from the crate in front of him. “Hey ass hole! Open the -blam!-ing crate!” “It could be a trap,” Oliver spoke up once again, a sense of urgency in his voice. “We are stuck here for the time being so why not?” Alexander shrugged. Bending down he fidgeted with the mechanism locking the lid on the crate. Manipulating slightly to the right a click sounded and the lid popped open. A black metal frame sat atop some glimmer and crimson iron ore. “Finally!” the fame spat out. “Took you long enough.” “Wha…” Alexander perked an eyebrow. “Oh come on this isn’t the first talking machine you’ve ever seen. Your ghost talks to you doesn’t it?” Alexander stood. He opened his mouth but could not formulate words. “That’s a frame,” Oliver said in partial amazement. “Golden Age Technology smart system.” “Ding! Ding! Ding!” the frame retorted. “The floating ball has it!” “I’m a ghost,” "Yeah I know,” the frame interrupted. “One of those pompous know it all machines the [i]traveler[/i] made.” “Excuse me!” Oliver exclaimed taken aback. Alexander took a step back and bit his tongue. “I called you a pompous dumbass what are you going to do about it?” “I…” “Nothing because it’s true.” “Y-you!” “I what? Shut up ball. Guardian pick me up I need to get off this rock and find someone.” “Uh…” “Don’t just stand there pick me up and put me in your backpack. There are a couple of places in the buried city some of my parts are located I need them.” Alexander hesitantly picked up the frame. Thumbing it over, the metal was light and painted a red and white. What are you, he whispered under his breath. “You can call me Super Good Advice because trust me guardian I’m full of it.” “I don’t like him,” Oliver said turning his eye up and dematerializing into Alexander’s backpack.