“She isn’t responding.” “I can see that! Can you help her?” “I’m her Ghost, Kat. I’ll do everything I can. But the normal protocols aren’t working. Whatever they did, it affected her Light.” The Nightstalker rubbed her temples, trying not to panic. [i]“I have to do something. Sitting here interrogating her Ghost isn’t helping.”[/i] She looked at the fireteam’s resident Sunsinger. Akrin returned her gaze with seeming indifference, but the Hunter knew better. He was even more worried than she was. He hefted his auto rifle and returned his gaze to the Martian desert outside the cave. “Kat.” The Hunter turned to see her friend’s Ghost staring at her. “What?” “I don’t know what to do. I can’t make the repairs.” Kat’s gaze softened. She had been so caught up in her own panic that she hadn’t considered the Ghost. He was surely frightened and confused. Machine though he was, the little construct had come from the Traveler, and the mysterious entity had bestowed its creations with many quirks and talents. The Hunter glanced at the mouth of the cave, then returned her attention to the Ghost. “It’ll be alright, Lumen. We’ll figure it out. If you can’t make the repairs through Light, maybe we can scavenge parts.” Lumen blinked. “What? There’s no guarantee that can work. What if-?” “We have to try something.” Lumen spun his panels in thought. “I could try, but you have to find the parts first. I’ll show Crikket what we need.” Kat’s Ghost materialized and exchanged data with Lumen, chirping a tune as he accepted the information. He let out a few static clicks before vanishing again. The Hunter retrieved her helmet and slipped it on, activating the seals and linking it with the rest of her armor. She picked up her scout rifle from where it sat propped against a nearby rock, then turned on her heel and strode toward the entrance to the cave. She paused and took a last look at her fireteam leader. Tac-2 sat propped against the back wall of the cave, white optics gazing sightlessly toward the desert outside. Her left eye flickered periodically, and the white glow behind her mouth flashed and flared, though she said nothing nor made any sound. A hole had been punched in her left shoulder, frayed wiring sprouting from the “wound” like a clump of dry grass; the fingers of her left hand twitched. An angry crack zig-zagged across the Striker’s breastplate. Kat took a breath, turned away, and clapped Akrin on the shoulder as she stepped outside. She waited a moment for her visor to polarize in response to the blazing desert sun, and took a step through the hot red sand. She would not allow another Guardian to die because of her. ~~~~ [b]Something that popped into my head. Kat's Ghost is actually called "Cricket", but of course Bnet decided I was talking about an error code, so I tweaked the spelling. Anyway, this is a glance at fireteam Lustre, a team I plan on writing about in future! Tac is based on my Titan, Kat is based on my best friend's Hunter, and Akrin is based on my younger bro's Warlock. (The associated Gamertags are Oreochema, PuzzleDrone, and halofreek84, respectively.)[/b]