Entry #3 – The Black Garden --- Rendaus, Aaron. ENTRY READS: [quote]I never thought I’d be in this place. I've heard the tales from the few who've set foot in this place, but I had always took them in with a bit of skepticism. This place almost feels…[i]alive[/i]. While I make my rounds here I feel as though my every move is being watched by eyes from every angle and perhaps I am being observed. By whom, I am not sure. Although this place has a very eerie atmosphere I still must acknowledge the beauty of it all as well. Even though I am surrounded by the cryptic Vex architecture there are beautiful flowers here as well. These flowers almost blend well with the abstract Vex buildings and it seems they may be my only comfort while I patrol the area. The Vanguard has sent me here after another fireteam went MIA following their investigation of this place. As I’ve admitted to feeling a presence here, I also have to admit that the Garden feels abandoned at the same time. It’s peculiar. The time I heard about the Black Garden was a few weeks ago while I was visiting the tower. A fireteam had just returned from a Strike mission they had been assigned to by the Vanguard. Apparently the team had found an active Vex timegate that unleased some sort of Hydra. They spoke about this Hydra as if it were something never encountered before. Moss and saplings hung from the monstrosity and they even said that it smelled of decay. This is something I sincerely hope to avoid...the Vex are disturbing enough as is. If something like that Hydra had gone so long without being detected I wonder what else could be hiding here from me. More mechanical Vex beasts waiting to annihilate me? Hopefully not, dying hurts. It hurts a lot. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I’ve been in here a few hours and have established a camp site near the heart of the garden since this is where the fireteam went missing. I don’t really understand why the Vanguard would assign me, of all Guardians, to this patrol. Although I have become much more seasoned in battle while having been on these patrol missions I do not feel like I would be able to fend well against a Vex ambush. Currently, I am only armed with the same New Monarchy auto rifle I received from the rep back on Earth, a standard issue Vanguard LIGHT/Beware, and a Valedictorian 9-44 I recently acquired as a gift from Shaxx and Arcite. These weapons are definitely much better than the standard weapons I have previously been using but I don’t think they would be enough firepower to take now a group of Minotaurs or Hydras on my own. For now, I am going to lie low around here and begin searching for the fireteam. I’ve had Ghost scan the heart of the Garden but we’ve only received strange readings we can’t really decipher. Although these readings are strange, they do not seem to present an immediate threat, or any at all, so for now the MIA team is my priority. I have instructed Ghost to retreat if things go south..he can always come back for me. I’ve located the team..or at least what is left of them. Their remains were in a pit not too far behind the heart of the Garden and it seems that they may have been here for quite some time. But, the time can’t be as long as it seems. Flowers from the Garden have begun sprouting through them and although there should be the scent of decaying flesh, instead there is a smell of pollen. Their armor seems as though it has been pierced and scorched by some intense flames..there is black all around their armor. I searched for their Ghosts, but I have found nothing. The bodies are laid flat next to one another with their hands on their chests so they were not simply dumped into this pit. What the hell happened here? These flowers, this garden, something isn’t right here. The presence I felt earlier is much more intense. I continually see something out of the peripherals of my eyes and visor, but when I turn I am still alone. My campsite is decimated. Burnt. The smell of pollen is present. Ghost, stop recording the journal for now; something is here. We have t68493tju3sjqswfpdas[b]YOU[/b]jnfbwehbf02ie1nnjd Sffewbfpwqfdce8q4fc6[b]VIOLATE[/b]jsnf239jfnu3buGhost? What is wrop4ujt8n4u3gb1[b]MY[/b]jbfuhbu 832hfb31bfjcnbfuiqec[b]GARDEN[/b]ncwucnreqhgvmo2tr5b4v56[b]WITH[/b]fnu2ecu3cb34ckec2c58s4d5 G&*&YUJboiJH8Y8uiojknB[b]YOUR[/b]jndubeioidkiUJNUIIOumkshddkoq[b]LIGHT[/b]undc93ecec228q4f Ahhhhhhh!! My head! What is happening?! Ghost! We’re leaving now!! This is Aaron Rendaus of patrol squad seven contacting Vanguard HQ at the Tower this an emgerbfdn1cuneicn Wbdec5w4v8q5c1d4foqhvc[b]YOUR[/b]nfuiqnimkclnleqkjckcxc3r53v4625qvJIO;[b]LIGHT[/b]jnbxewiwkkqbubquejcn[b]WILL[/b]hdcuwnvqc5feb54kteskfboikk[b]BE[/b]odfqfee5b4r54qe5egvakhhyabvfjewvq61er656q[b]EXTINGUISHED[/b]ufvnqnvnnqbcioghost now! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Something happened in the Garden..I reported it to the Vanguard as soon as I escaped that place. I heard a voice in my head and Ghost began malfunctioning like nothing I’ve even seen. He says he cannot tell me what he heard, but Ghost heard something as well. A voice that shook my soul and caused my hair to stand stiff. We were being watched the entire time it seems..by..I don’t know what. I am shook up. As we were leaving the flowers no longer smelled of pollen, but of death, rotting flesh, and blood. Vex began an assault on Ghost and I from out of nowhere and we barely made it out ok. The trip out seemed longer than the trip to the heart of the Garden and I found corridors I’d never seen while patrolling. Places that seemed “out of time” and hallways that twisted and defying logic, physics, and sanity. I heard voices while I ran: a woman, a child, and a man. I do not know them, but they sounded familiar. The presence I felt has not left..I still feel it. Ghost does as well. The Garden has been declared a Darkness Zone once again and patrol teams are now prohibited from entering unless instructed to do so by the Vanguard. Even the factions have been prohibited from entering. What the hell happened in there..? [/quote] ENTRY ENDS [spoiler][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/100445320/0/0]#1[/url] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/102558801/0/0]#2[/url] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/881481/111840429]#4[/url][/spoiler]