She walked across the long, winding paths of Venus in her lonesome, clutching the walkie tucked into her hand, matted by dirt and Ether spilled. Iliyus had been walking for many hours, her feet aching from trodding the soil thick with the stench of sulfur. In the distance was a large volcano, shooting out torrents of blue magma with thunder rolling overhead. Lightning began to strike the many towering stone statues built onto fraternity houses on the great campus. The first fledgeling drops of rain began to shed from the assimilating patches of clouds, turning a sour gray, the sunset on Venus turned from violet and orange to muted as a storm began. She didn't want to be caught out in the rain, so she looked around, seeing to her far left an overhang built into a hill and supported by a huge column of rock. Iliyus jogged briskly towards it, the rain beginning its onslaught, and got underneath shelter just before she was truly soaked. She turned on the flashlight attached to her breast pocket and illuminated the hollowed place that was once solid land, eroded over hundreds of years by the acidic mists and whipping winds that floated aimlessly across the planet. She could tell because the wall she leaned on and where she sat, unlacing her shoes and prying them of, showed the scars of long-time decay, jagged and coarse. Her chest fluttered when she sat down, looking forward. The rain became torrential, relentlessly pounding the ground with all its fury, searing lightning striking across the landscape ahead of her. Still holding to her walkie, she flipped on her emergency line once again and began to speak. "Please, if any Vanguard members can hear this, I've been stranded on Venus. My partner Maurice has been missing in action, but its likely he's been killed. I am located in the student housing section of Ishtar University. Assistance requested." All she heard in response was static. --- [i]"Please, if any -- members can hear this, I've -- stranded -- Venus. My partner -- has been missing ----, but -- likely he's been --. I am located in the -- housing section of --. Assistance --,"[/i] the transmission fizzled into static. "His Holiness, should I let the call pass to the Vanguard?" A nasal voice asked, the room thick with smoke, small and shrimpy, working over a large panel of buttons. He asked the question in the direction of the far right of the room, farther down, where many ripped purple cushions were stacked and candles flickering. Another small pygmy hobbled towards the dark, formless entity that laid atop the stack, in his hand a large and beautifully painted pitcher. He poured the wine in the chalice he held in his other hand, cradled in gold and jewels, and presented it in libation to the entity. It took It with an extended hand, warped and sparking with electricity, shifting in the guise of the shadows. It smacked its lips, tasting the effervescent, dry red in its mouth, and began to speak, saliva flying from its mouth. "Let it pass," It spoke in garbled speak, accompanied by a flurry of clicking noises and repulsive chewing. "A Militia soldier stranded on Venus. And a new one, no less." "His Holiness, would you like us to deploy some Smokers to hunt the girl?" "No, no, that would be a little less exciting. Tap into the girl's means of communication and leave it open. I would like to hear what becomes of her," It spoke into the darkness, Its last words ominous, hanging in the air before It chuckled lowly and returned to Its feast.