Enjoy! Dust swirled around the bunker as the eastbound wind kicked up crimson sand. Alexander sat atop a crate, eyebrows perked, investigating the frame before him. The metal was light but durable. Oliver had disappeared into his backpack and remained silent while the constant badgering of the frame rung in his ears. “There is a place called the Dust Palace, we need to go there,” Super Good Advice started. “The Cabal locked any orbital communications,” Alexander responded resting his hand on one palm. “We need to figure out how to reestablish –“ “Who the -blam!- cares? Don’t be such a bitch, you’re a goddamned titan after all.” “I may be a titan but I’m not stupid enough to fight the Cabal head on alone.” “Bitch,” Super Good Advice chuckled. “My owner puts all you wimpy guardians to shame. When you get me back to the tower I’ll find him and get some real action. Pahanin was glorious in battle.” “Whatever you say,” Alexander replied coolly. “Oliver do you know where we would get one of those access keys?” “Ohhhhh, relying on the ball instead of the machine that’s been here for a while and would know the lay of the land.” “I do,” Oliver interjected. “There is another outpost on the other side of Firebase Rubicon. We could check there.” “Then that’s where we’ll go.” “Dumbasses.” Alexander stood and put Super Good Advice in his backpack. Putting Immobious on its magnetic holster, he left the bunker. The way point was marked. Despite the distance, the sun blared down on the desert wasteland. Temperature readings on the HUD indicated well into the 100’s. Alexander began to sweat in his armor as he walked along the winding desert sands. Cabal foot traffic created a pathway between dunes. Bloody rocks of iron pierced the sand in places, devilish thorns on the broken planet surface. Rounding the final twist of the march path, Alexander looked up in awe at Firebase Rubicon. It was enormous. A monolith of metal walling off the canyon behind it. Legionaries, Phalanx, and Centurions marched back and forth along the many trenches and bunkers built into the sand. Spot lights and cannons stared down the empty desert. Blacked craters lined with glass and twisted metal dotted the rusty sand. Alexander ducked behind the dune as a ship flew to the front line. The harvester opened its drop doors and a monumental creature fell to the sand. It sent up a plume of dust and rocks. The colossus wielded a heavy Gatling gun weapon and stood ten feet tall. Its armor was bulky and unbelievably thick. Every step sent small waves around it pushing away the earth and demolishing anything it stepped on. Legionaries emerged from the bunkers to greet their commander. “Come on it’s a fair fight now!” Super Good Advice piped up. “I’m sorry what?” Alexander said shaking his head. “Pahanin would be all over that. He would have done this amazing invisibility trick then just obliterate them all.” “The outpost is just on the other side of the canyon in Giants Pass,” Oliver interrupted. “Or you could continue to be a little bitch and listen to that pompous dumbass.” “Now listen here you poor excuse for a weapon –“ “Shut up ball no one was talking to you.” “Smart system doesn’t make you all that intelligent does it?” “I can do more in my sleep than you have your entire existence.” “What can you do without a firing mechanism –“ “In its dying breath, the traveler created ghosts to -blam!-ing open doors,” Super Good Advice laughed. “I remember hearing that from someone a long time ago. “Throwing around insults, totally mature!” “Machines and maturity? That’s an oxymoron if I ever heard one… moron just like you!” “You little –“ “Stop feeding him,” Alexander interrupted holding his hand out. As Oliver materialized Alexander snatched him out of the air. “Just tell me how to get to the outpost.” “He told you!” Super Good Advice hooted. “Shut up or I’ll bury you.” Alexander took a deep breath releasing Oliver. As he dematerialized another way point appeared in the distance. A mechanical whir echoed in the distance as a cloud the color of a dead television set formed. Electricity cracked and Vex dropped into the front lines. Another roar sounded as the Colossus and the Legionaries valiantly flew into battle they smashed and twisted the metal of the Vex mechanical bodies. Spurts of green and white goo exploded into the air. Spurts of purple blood leaked from where the laser weapons of the Vex decimated the Cabal armor. A Goblin charged the Colossus. Without missing a beat, it lifted its enormous leg and pancaked the machine. Focusing and shaking off the fear of the battle going on in front of him, Alexander assumed a running position. Shifting codices from Defender to Striker drained his reserves of light. He counted down the beats of his heart from five. Doing one last mental check he went over all his items. When his fifth heart beat pounded in his rib cage, Alexander sprinted forward. The sand slowed him, the weight of his body sinking into the ground slightly with each step. Sprint, he thought forcing the muscles in his legs, arms, and core into overdrive. Sprint, sprint, sprint! Sand turned to craggy crust as the landscape of the battlefield altered the surface. He picked up traction and speed. Ahead of him Vex reinforcements were teleporting to the battlefield. As the first Goblin dropped, Alexander’s sprint became a mad dash forward. The machine turned as a blur of armor trucked it. The snap of the sound barrier turned all attention to Alexander and a flurry of red lasers and explosive slugs began to follow him. Adrenalin surged his heart and every pounding beat felt painful against his chest. His legs lost feeling and felt rubbery. He could not slow down, not now. So close, he thought. The winding pathway to Giant’s Pass twisted between enormous iron rocks. Hurdling over the white bark of a dead tree, Alexander could hear the sizzling and explosions fade. "Cabal recon team around the next bend,” Oliver said as Alexander slowed and looked behind him. The Vex had turned their attention to the Cabal and the two races seemed reoccupied with each other. Alexander closed his eyes gulping down air. Shifting between codices, Striker back to Defender, depleted what little light he had accumulated. "You’ve shifted between codices twice now titan,” Super Good Advice started. “Idiot, now you don’t have reserve grenades, or a Ward of Dawn.” “I’m serious,” Alexander replied, “I will bury you if you don’t shut up.” Conviction and tone chilled the frame. “And don’t you dare say a word Oliver.” Alexander slowly advanced around the bend, the grumble of Cabal catching his ear. Each approached the bend, finding themselves mere inches from each other. Alexander’s eyes widened as the slab of metal was immediately thrust forward. The Phalanx caught him off guard shattering his shield and sending him flying back. Alexander landed in the mix of dirt and rock, bounced and slid a few more feet before hitting the skeletal remains of a dead tree with a loud thwack. Immobious was knocked from its magnetic holster and landed a few yards away. The pair of Phalanx moved in bumbling forward swinging their shields as they went. The first reached Alexander and lifted its shield, about to hammer it down. A shot rang out, deep and menacing. The sound echoed as the head of the first Phalanx exploded into a fountain of dark purple blood. The large creature’s body fell back in a slump. Alexander shook off the dizziness and tried to focus. The world still slightly spinning he saw a guardian in red and white armor leap out in front of him. The other Phalanx roared in anger as it witnessed the fall of its brother. It charged the guardian, but was met with a round to the chest. The sound was metallic and frightening. A familiar darkness. Green veins began to creep through the Cabal’s armor and skin. The guardian fired another few rounds into the creature. It grasped its chest in agony. The wails reverberating through the canyon were more akin to that of a banshee than a soldier. As the creature keeled over, it took one last at the guardian. She had turned, her torn cloak a proud indication of a hunter. “Hey Alexander,” Raven said extending her hand. “Looks like you could use some help.”