As I boarded the star ship, Theta-14 started the engines. We rose above the tree line and the base shrunk into nothing. I walked to the co-pilot's seat and stared out the cockpit. I could see outer space above us, but we seemed to stay in the atmosphere. "Where is our next destination?" I looked to Theta-14's blank face for an answer. "Not the Tower," It was like he had his answer ready for that exact question. "Oh, is it more of that hunter, wilderness, training?" I looked to Theta-14 then out the windows. Theta-14 pointed to a meter on the dash. I could hear the gears grinding. "We need fuel for the ship... I need to see Doctor Lorinski." "Where is he? Doctor Lorinski?" I asked Theta-14 but he didn't answer. "Close to the Ishtar Academy," Colt brought up a holographic map of Venus to show me. It took us three hours to reach the opposite end of Venus. When we arrived, a giant structure marked our destination. It towered over everything else. Only the citadel was taller. "Colt, is that Vex or human?" I practically had to look straight up. "I don't know. It predates human existence by more than a billion years. Could be neither for all we know." Colt glanced up as well. "Hey, look. Lorinski's Robotics Engineering. So, I've been here before?" I pointed to a rusted building. "Yes, though you will not remember it. Stay out here. I will tell Dr. Lorinski about our ship and how you are doing." Theta-14 walked inside while Colt and I stood waiting. I sat on some steps and picked up a stick, I began tracing lines in the dirt. "How long has it been?" "Fifteen minutes, Colt." "Oh, how long has it been now?" "Sixteen minutes now." I sighed as I checked my watch again. "Okay, that was just one minute." "Yes, Colt." "How long has it been now?" "Still sixteen minutes, Colt." I took a deep breath after saying that. "Oh, cool. How about now?" "That Traveler created you... I'm about to destroy you!" "How long did that rant take, Alan?" "One minute! It has been seventeen minutes! I'm going to take a hike!" "How long is that hike going to take you, Alan?" "That's it!" I grabbed his shell and threw him as far as I could. He was spinning so fast his eye pointed to me every one half second. "It was just a question!" Even though he yelled it, his voice faded in the distance. His shell smashed through a window to an abandoned building. He quickly flew back and stated the obvious: "Okay, I had that coming." "Yes you did! You little"-- I heard glass shatter behind me... it was the robotics lab! I quickly pulled out my hand cannon as my hunter armor appeared around me. I rushed through the door, but there was no more noise. I crept down the spiraling flight of stairs. The basement was filled with all sorts of scientific equipment, I couldn't count them all. The lights in the lab went out, Colt became a floating flashlight. As we looked around, no blood, no bodies, perfectly clear. "Guardian? I need your help!" It was Dr. Lorinski. I rushed over and lifted a giant piece of machinery that caught and broke his foot. "Do you know where Theta-14 went? I need to find him!" I helped him up and grabbed a seat for him. He was breathing hard, his adrenaline was pumping. "He went after the Fallen that stole my research on a new model of exos." I walked out of the building. Colt started to scan the land around us until some leaves shifted in the bush nearby. Some quiet talk also arose from there. "That was Fallen chatter, be careful." Colt's warning helped a little. I approached the bush slowly. A dreg jumped out and shot at me. He brought my shields down just 10% of it's strength. I popped three shots from my hand cannon into his head... his body collapsed to the ground like a rock. "That couldn't be it," I thought to myself as I searched through the bushes. I moved one branch over, but nothing was behind the bush. As I looked around, I heard a twig snap. I looked in that direction to see a vandal run away. "D*** it! Wait, why did you blip that out?" "Hey! Don't use that language in front of the kids!" "What kids? There are no kids here, Colt." "You are not exactly an adult here now are you, Alan?" I rolled my eyes and shoved Colt away. I ran after it to see where it was going. I walked around a tree to see the vandal disappear in the crowd of seven other vandals and three captains. "Whatever it is carrying must be important!" I exclaimed. Theta-14 "blinked" into the center of that crowd! He fused his sword with arc energy and released the power of the blade dancer! He jumped up and spun around towards the left with his sword out. It was a move blade dancers called a showstopper. Theta-14 killed five Fallen, but a captain grabbed Theta-14's throat. Being an exo, this choke hold did not hurt him just kept him from moving. His legs dangled as the captain lifted him three feet off the ground. "Theta!" I summoned my golden gun and aimed for the captain. As I had fired, the captain pulled a dreg's hand cannon out of it's hand. That caused the dreg to get yanked in front of the shot! The captain raised the weapon to Theta-14's head. I fired a second time. The golden bullet struck the captain causing him to shoot Theta-14's rib section before getting vaporized. Theta-14 was dropped, he stumbled but did not fall. As the target vandal escaped, the remaining Fallen swarmed the injured hunter. Sparks flew as they ripped wires from his metal frame. "No! Theta... No!" I fired my last shot, but it missed. I grabbed my throwing knives and hit the two closest Fallen in the head... then two more in the head. My knives never ran out! My armor turned to grids of energy, then to nothing at all. "Theta. No." I was crying as I knelt down and scavenged through the metal plates and wires for his ghost. Finally, his ghost appeared. It hovered over Theta-14's body and stared at Colt and me. The longer it floated there, the more his eye began to flicker. "Well, bring him back. Fix his atoms. Do something!" I demanded. The ghost, never moving, finally said something. "Message from Guardian Theta-14: It was Phantom! Message ended." After playing the message, it fell to the ground. Its last light faded. I picked up the ghost and stuck it in a pouch on my reformed armor. "Colt, let's figure out what that vandal was carrying." "I have it marked! I'll lead the way!" Colt sped down the path as I ran behind.