Chapter Text

Dust was whipped up into a flurry as the purple and gray Sparrow flew over the plains. The rider kept his head lowered as his Ghost's voice echoed in his helmet.

“We're almost there. Turn left and head towards that canyon.”

The Guardian hit the brakes and made a sharp left around a destroyed bus, then released the handles and tipped his feet back to activate the boost thrusters, sending him flying towards his destination. He traveled for another minute or two before stopping his Sparrow and dismounting. With a wave of his hand, his Ghost materialized in midair, turning to the Sparrow, and emitted a beam of light that engulfed the vehicle until it was gone. The Ghost then turned its attention back the Guardian and tipped forward slightly in a sort of nodding motion before disappearing again in a flash of light.

Tobi-17 unlimbered his scout rifle and pulled back the charging handle, loading the first round from the magazine. He took a few steps forward before he heard an engine and whipped around, dropping to his knee and raising the rifle. He lowered it when he saw who it was. The female Titan swung her leg off of her Sparrow and brushed the dust from her emblem – the Scar of Radegast, a mark of a participant in the Iron Banner standing.

“Athena, what are you doing here?” Tobi-17 said, dropping his weapon to his side. “I almost shot you.”

Athena shrugged and placed a hand on her hip. “I could ask you the same question.”

“I'm tracking some Fallen who have been hoarding something. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm on my way to check it out. If you want, I think I saw a beacon about half a klik that way,” he said, gesturing back to where he came from.

“I'm not looking for work right now. I'm just wandering around, and I saw you headed this way. Thought I'd tag along.”

Tobi-17 sighed and shook his head. “Fine, you can come with me. But we're gonna need to continue on foot.”

“Fine by me,” Athena said, following after the Warlock.

They were walking for close to ten minutes when Athena looked back behind them and stopped. “Wait, wait, wait, are we leaving the Cosmodrome?”

“Well yeah, why else would we be heading this way?”

“I thought you said the Fallen were hoarding things.”

“Look,” Tobi-17 turned around and gestured in the direction they were walking, “my Ghost says that the Fallen are getting smarter. Don't you think they would start hiding their treasure outside of the Cosmodrome? That area is crawling with Hive and Guardians, no way are they going to keep their stuff here.”

“Alright, fine, but how do you even know where you're going? Have you ever been outside the Cosmodrome on Earth?”

“Not exactly, but I was doing some recon with my ship for a little while, and used my Ghost to reconstruct some past events. There was a Ketch in this canyon up ahead.”

“A Ketch? Man, that's big. Really big. Baron big. How do you know they didn't take the treasure and leave?”

“I did my recon, like I said. There's still something on the ground. I think they only have part of what they're looking for, not all of it. If we can retrieve what they already have, then it'll be worth it to stop them.”

“Well, what are we waiting for!”

The two Guardians struck out again, the wind picking up and causing Tobi-17's black cloak to billow around him, while Athena's sash whipped around her thigh. The walk was annoying, as the path was littered with stray metal, and vehicle parts from before the Golden Age that made it difficult to maneuver. When they finally reached the canyon, Tobi-17 gestured for Athena to get down behind some rocks, as he crouched.

“I count 12 Dreggs and 9 Vandals.” Athena said in a low voice, her eyes scanning her HUD for information her Ghost would relay to her.

Tobi-17 raised his Scout Rifle, aiming carefully down the scope at a Vandal. He knew they were more trouble than they were worth, and he squeezed the trigger. The MIDA Multi-Tool let out a single, high-powered shot that impacted against the Vandal's head, shattering the helmet it wore, and the creature collapsed to the ground. The other Vandals and Dreggs screeched as their comrade went down. He moved his sights to another Vandal and pulled the trigger again. This time, it missed the alien's head, hitting it instead in its chest. Staggered and weakened, the alien raised its head, locating the source of the shot and pointed with one of it's arms, shouting something in the Fallen's native tongue.

“They've seen us!” Athena warned, popping out from behind the rock and unleashing a hail of fire from her Auto Rifle. Two Dreggs went down in an instant, and Athena broke from her cover, charging down the hill and firing her weapon. Tobi-17 turned as a Vandal approached from his right, firing a burst of Solar Light from his palm and sending it toppling to the ground. He raised his weapon and unleashed several more shots, taking down another Vandal.

“Captain!” Athena's voice called as he heard the rapid firing of her weapon. He whirled around and saw the large, shielded enemy approaching from inside a hole that has been burrowed into the hill. Pulling his cloak aside, Tobi-17 drew his Fusion Rifle. He leaped up and used his Blink ability, appearing in front of the Captain in an instant, and held his trigger, charging up the Arc attack, before the 8 small shots burst forth from the barrel almost all at once. The attack shredded the Captain's shields and staggered him. He pulled the trigger again, letting loose a second volley of shots. Athena reloaded and pressed her attack again. On his HUD, Tobi-17 could see the Captain's health waning as it charged with swords in hand. The Captain fired his own weapon, and the four projectiles struck him in the torso. His shield took most of the hit, but he still bent forward. He pulled the trigger, charging up once more and bringing his weapon's sights to bare on the Captain, as the shots burst forth, the alien collapsed, the blue light of its soul escaping the body and vanishing.

Athena, panting, gave Tobi-17 a thumb's up and he nodded in response. He put his Fusion Rifle back on his hip, under the cloak, and retrieved his Scout Rifle. Stepping over the Fallen corpses, he finally had time to discover the loot they had been hiding.

“What is all this stuff?” Athena asked, picking up one of the large stones that were piled up nearby.

“Raw ore. It's a rare mineral, and when refined, makes some of the strongest armour made on Earth. If they had enough, they could outfit their entire force.”

“That would explain why there's still Fallen in the Cosmodrome. They're trying to find more, right?” Athena pondered. Staring at the vast amount of ore that had already been collected right under their noses.

“Yeah, definitely. We have to stop that mining operation.”

“I'll contact the Tower, let them know what we found.” Tobi-17's Ghost said into his comms.

“Sounds good. Make sure to let Dead Orbit know, as well. I'm sure they'd be curious to see what the Fallen are up to.”

As the comms cut out, Tobi-17 turned to look at Athena, who was shaking her head.

“What?”

“You and Dead Orbit. Why not remain neutral for the Vanguard?”

“It's not that I'm not thankful or anything. But I like what Dead Orbit has to offer. Besides, there's going to need to be diversity when this is all over. I'm just trying to do my part. All the Exo's are.”

“You're right. Diversity, blah blah blah,” the Awokened woman giggled. “Hey, when we get back, drinks are on me.”

“But I don't drink,” Tobi-17 cocked his head to the side.

“Then I guess I'll just have to drink enough for both of us."