Table of Contents https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/225386550/0/0 The Martian sand shifted constantly as the wind carried it across the planet. The dunes never looked the same way twice. Cities sat here and there, sometimes buried in the sand, sometimes not. It wasn't clear who ruled this planet. The Vex had structures. The Cabal had bases. The Vex antagonized the Cabal. The Cabal took what Vex structures they could. The Vex seemed to be losing, but a time-spanning thought mesh like the Vex can't lose. The Cabal were an expanding empire from somewhere far away. The only troops in the solar system appeared to be scouts, more or less. Scouts meant to conquer without reinforcements. Their army (as far as we knew) seemed to consist of two different species: the Cabal and the Psions. The Cabal were massive with two arms and two legs. There weren't many other words to describe their appearance, since they all wore thick armor. They made up most of the army. The most basic units were the Legionaries. Then, there were Phalanxes, with massive shields. Next were the tactical and skilled Centurions. Then, there were the Colossus, with thicker armor and heavy weapons. True to their name, the Colossus were larger than most other Cabal. The Psions were small, and probably an unrelated species. They might be the same species, though. They are hyper-intelligent. They have no ranks. They're just Psions. This was my first time on Mars, and my Ghost had rambled on about all of this for hours. [i]Good thing I'm a Warlock,[/i] I thought, [i]A Hunter or Titan would have drowned in that information bath.[/i] Under my helmet, I grinned at my wordplay. "Nulluj," Ghost said, "Activity." "Good," I grumbled, standing up on the high ridge of the sand dune and brushing off my dark blue robes. Sand fell from the gray armor and cloth on my arms and legs. I tugged on the thick, solid collar of my robe that protected my neck, then gave my sleek gray helmet a shake. [i]There is way too much sand on this planet,[/i] I thought impatiently. Below us, at the base of the dune, a small group of Cabal was marching through the dust, heading towards the nearby ruins of a city. I leaped off of the ridge and used Glide to drift closer to them. I stopped Gliding and let myself plummet. My shadow passed over a Legionary, and it looked up. But it was too late. I landed on the Legionary. Channeling Solar Light through my hand as I nailed it with a Palm. As it disintegrated under me, I lobbed a grenade at a couple of Psions. It stuck to one of them, then exploded in a blaze of fire before they could react. My auto rifle materialized in my hand and I unleashed a torrent of bullets at two Legionaries. A shadow loomed over me, and I turned. A Centurion towered over me as it swung its arm, knocking me down onto my back. Still on the ground, I raised my auto rifle and aimed for its head. There was a loud bang, and the Centurion's lifeless body collapsed, a black oily substance that stained the red sand spewing from the armor around its head. I looked over my shoulder as I stood. Light from the sun reflected off of the red armor of another Guardian on top of a nearby dune. He began reloading his black and white sniper rifle. • • • The red Guardian was standing in the same place when I reached the top of the dune. I stopped in front of him, but he didn't move and continued to gaze past me. "Thanks for the support," I said. He muttered something under his breath, but didn't seem to notice me. My comms crackled, and the voice of a feminine Ghost spoke. "Hi," she greeted, "I'm Blanc. I'll get his attention." Blanc materialized, drifting in front of the Guardian. She forcefully bumped into the front of his helmet, making a small clinking noise. He jolted, then looked at Blanc. "Blank?" he asked. "Blank?" I inquired. The Guardian looked at me and replied, "Blank." "I thought it was Blanc," I said, thoroughly confused. "Blank," the Guardian repeated. "I'm Blanc," Blanc said. I put a hand on my helmet and pieced it together. "Okay," I concluded, pointing at Blanc, "You're Blanc. What's blank?" "It's our word for when he spaces out," Blanc explained. I sighed and nodded to show her I understood. "I'm Keis-51," the Guardian said, then waved a hand at Blanc, "This is Blanc." "I'm Nulluj," I replied, "You can call me Null." Ghost materialized and interjected, "I'm his Ghost. No nickname, yet. Null is only half a year old. As a Guardian, that is." Keis nodded. "Keis is about one hundred and twenty years old," Blanc returned. I was impressed. I was more or less still a new Guardian, but I knew one hundred and twenty was a good age for a Guardian. There were some older than him, but not very many. Of course, the Speaker and Saladin were far older than that. The comms crackled again, and a new voice spoke. "I'm in orbit, KS." Blanc's shell moved around her eye in a way that made her look surprised, then turned to me. "Oh, sorry for leaving you on our comms, Null," She apologized, "We have to go." • • • "A friend?" Salem inquired over the comms. "He could be one," I answered, remotely steering our ship to follow Salem's as we left orbit, "Keis didn't do much talking, but he put in some effort." "He'd be lost without you, Blanc," Salem sighed, "You're too good for him." "No I'm not," I blushed, "He's my Guardian." "And she is my...." Keis paused to think, "female..... friend...... was your word dream girl?... Girlfriend?... She is my girlfriend." We were all silent for a moment. Then Salem burst out laughing. I giggled uncontrollably, and I could hear Salem's Ghost chuckling. "Haha-girl-haha-" Salem stifled his laughter, "That was at Twilight Gap! I forgot about that!" We all calmed down. "That was a little less than seventy years ago," Salem's Ghost reminisced. "You're his dream girl, Blanc," Salem chortled, "Gosh, that guy you met better be good, 'cause we need friends. We've started recycling jokes." "I still don't understand the significance of having a friend other than Blanc that is specifically female," Keis stated. We couldn't hold in our laughter at his inability to comprehend girlfriends.