Every hunter was asleep in their tents. All but Yuri, it was his shift to be guard. Inside the tents, the Desert Foxes slept soundly. Each ghost muffled their Guardians' breathing in case any snored. The cold, rocky ground was nothing new to these men. They were used to it now, that's why they slept so well. Yuri sat on the peak of a rocky obelisk. There was nothing he liked to do more, than to sit under the stars and whittle. In fact, he was doing that right now. His helmet was sitting beside him, he was propped against a rock, and he had his solid piece of wood and knife in hand. Paradise. With each stroke, the chunk got smaller. Smaller. Smaller. Finally, it was a wooden wolf, ready to pounce on its unsuspecting prey. The hunter sat the work of art beside him. Now, Yuri simply enjoyed the moonlight of Deimos shining down on Mars; of course, he still kept an eye out for foes. Yuri watched the moon pass through the sky, then he tensed up as he noticed something about the stars. Death was upon them-- he could tell! "Ajax!" Yuri yelled. "Come and see this!" The hunter continued. Ajax stepped out of his tent. He put on his helmet and readied his scout rifle. "What do you got, Yuri?!" He asked. The hunter stared at the sky. Daybreak was near, but now, darkness still reigned. "It's an omen, boss..." Yuri said. "I don't like it..." "Yuri, don't tell me you're into these superstitious beliefs..." Ajax said as he loosened up. He, too, looked to the display. Deimos had turned a blood red, and all around it, meteors fell through, and burned in, Mars' atmosphere. "My father watched these signs over the centuries, and my father's father watched them the centuries before. They used to say, 'where fire crosses the blood in the sky, war would follow... and whoever witnesses it, is doomed to die'..." Yuri said as he turned to his leader. "Then stop watching it, Yuri," Ajax turned away and was about to jump off the obelisk. "That won't help. If we can see it, so can everyone else-- every Guardian in Meridian Bay, every Cabal as well..." "What... are you saying, Yuri?" Ajax asked, nearly fed up with the riddles. "From the stories my father told me, every time blood and fire appeared in the sky, deadly wars broke out... but [i]no one[/i] won. I've heard stories of whole brigades of Guardians and entire Fallen houses just, disappear when this omen loomed in the sky..." Yuri sounded genuinely worried now. "Oh..." Ajax said, finally understanding Yuri's concerns. He put his hand on Yuri's shoulder, "Maybe we'll survive it. We've survived worse." The two turned to the east, Sol was peaking over the horizon. Daybreak had come, and it was time for the Desert Foxes to move again. "Keep an eye out, I'll get the boys up," Ajax said as he jumped down. "Copy that," Yuri replied. The team of hunters stepped out of their tents and gathered their equipment. The sun was now far above the mountains in the east, and was baking the sandy surface once again. The sun marked a new day, Monday-- five days before the planned assault on the Cabal fortifications. The hunters climbed out of the canyon and jumped onto their sparrows. They were headed towards the location given to Ajax by the Discovery team leader. Supposedly, a bracus was mobilizing a small task force outside of the Rubicon Wastes. Ajax led the gang up a slope, then stopped at the peak. They stared into the bowl of the Rubicon Wastes, where the land tank of Valus Ta'aurc still sat. Rory drew his sniper and scanned over the the Cabal forces. Yes, there was a bracus down there and, yes, there was a force of Cabal being built up down there. "Shall I take the shot?" Rory asked. "No, not yet. We need assistance," Ajax said. "Where's Discovery Team?" He asked. "What's the problem?" Castro asked. "They should be here..." Ajax whispered to himself. "Ajax! I'm detecting a distress call!" Billy yelled from the parked sparrows behind the team. The hunter ran to him immediately. The ghost played the audio, "The Cabal are assaulting the east side of the Clovis Bray complex! Sector twelve! I repeat, sector twelve!" The recording turned to static before cutting out entirely. Before anyone could say a word, Ajax was already on his sparrow and had boosted down the slope. Quickly, Castro, Gideon, Khanan, Rory, and Yuri followed after him. Sector twelve of the Clovis Bray complex was on the far side of Freehold, there was no time to lose!