Welcome back to my second crossover with Foxburton99! If you haven’t read the exploits of his characters yet, you can find them all in his [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217384398/0/0/]ARCHIVE[/url]. If you missed the last chapter of REEF MOB, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/225361797/0/0]here[/url], or if you need to find a previous chapter, you can find them all in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/218618986?sort=0&page=0]Table of Contents[/url]. Please give a bump or leave a comment if you enjoy this and any other chapter! *** We didn’t know the Reef existed until they sacrificed their anonymity to save us. As the Houses united at the Twilight Gap and we faced down the certainty of our own destruction, the unknown Awoken arose to defend us – and we now fight to repay that favor in kind. The Wolves returned and rebelled, but we pushed them back to the brink of destruction. Now, though, I fear a new enemy has risen from the ashes of this new conflict, just as Skolas rose from the ashes of the past. “I still don’t get it,” Sierra says, shaking her head. “What’s the Speaker know that he’s not telling us?” “Short answer or long answer?” Drew asks slyly, and Sierra scowls at him. I simply nod, Rush hovering next to my head, watching me as I peer through the view screen at the warp streaks outside. Despite the strange events I’d foreseen on the Moon, the Speaker directed us to the Reef to investigate – and I can’t stop thinking: [i]Why? What’s the Reef got to do with this? We knew the Wolves were allied with Taniks, but…[/i] I trail off, shaking my head wearily. “William?” I turn to look at Sierra’s concerned face. “It’s nothing,” I tell her. “Just confused, is all.” “You’re not alone there, brother,” Drew chimes. “None of this makes any sense.” “It would if the Speaker would lay his cards out,” Sierra mutters sourly. “Why’s everything got to be so cryptic with him? You can almost understand why Osiris left.” “Except Osiris was even more cryptic and mysterious,” I answer. Sierra shrugs. “Well, jawin’ about it’s not gonna change anything,” Drew says blithely. “All we can do is keep moving forward.” “Spoken like a true Titan,” Sierra smirks, cocking an eyebrow. They continue to bicker behind me, but I block them out, returning to my thoughts as Rush watches me cautiously. [i]There must be a reason the Speaker sent us to the Reef instead of the Moon… But what? What could be out here that would help my visions of the red guardian make sense?[/i] “William?” Rush asks quietly so the others won’t hear. “Yeah?” “Are….are you okay?” I let the question sink in – [i]I watched my friends die, knew that I abandoned them to warn the Tower, felt the red tendrils worm their way through my body… No, I am most definitely not okay.[/i] “Yeah, I’m fine,” I lie, finding it easier to do so than try and express what I still don’t understand. “Okay,” Rush answers, almost mournfully, as he turns to watch the view screen with me. The onboard computer counts down the warp time remaining as Sierra and Drew continue their tete a te behind me – “Guys,” I chime in. “We’re dropping out of warp, get focused.” “Always!” Drew laughs as Sierra quietly nods. [i]5… 4… 3… 2… 1…[/i] With a jerk, the ship drops out of warp, and I stare through the view screen incredulously. The Reef is gone. “What the….” Drew breathes as he moves closer, staring out, looking confused. “Where’s the…” The familiar ultraviolet hue is gone, the remnant of the Golden Age ships disappeared. The asteroids orbit uniformly in quiet serenity, untouched by the memories of war and violence all-too-familiar to the realm of the Awoken. “What happened?” Sierra asks, on edge, a note of fear in her voice. “Where is everything?” “William?” Rush asks, all three turning to look at me as I silently stare forward. [i]He knew…[/i] I’m crippled by the realization, unable to move, unable to think past the realization that the Speaker sent us out here to discover this anomaly. [i]He knew…[/i] Before I can think any further, though, the ship’s alarms start blaring. “What’s that?!” Drew shouts. “Perimeter sensors!” Sierra cries, shoving past me to check the computer. “Something’s out there!” She pulls up the sensor data and stares at it, brow furrowed in confusion. “That’s….that’s not possible.” Drew and I silently stare at the image on the screen with her, not daring to believe it ourselves – the ancient architecture, the familiar yet arcane markings… “It looks like….” Drew begins. “Those are Golden Age ships,” Rush whispers reverently, just as shocked as we. “They can’t be,” Sierra responds. “Maybe someone built some replicas,” Drew suggests, trying to break the tension. “Not the time, Drew!” Sierra snaps. “Hey, I’m just trying to – “ “Both of you, shut it!” I shout, turning immediately to Rush and ignoring their stunned silence. “You sure these are Golden Age ships?” Rush nods in midair. “Positive, they’re unmistakable.” I look out at the untouched field where the Reef should be again, piecing it all together. “If there’s no Reef, and there are Golden Age ships approaching….” Sierra shakes her head immediately. “Not possible.” “What?” Drew asks. “I know it doesn’t make any sense, but – “ “What doesn’t make any sense?” “William, it’s not possible, we never passed through any field, there was no way we could – “ “That we know of.” “WHAT doesn’t make any sense?” Sierra rolls her eyes at Drew as I fix him with a serious gaze. “We’ve somehow gone back in time. That’s the only explanation.” We all remain silent, letting the realization set in. Inside, I again struggle with the ramifications of this discovery: [i]The Speaker knew…..somehow, he knew something about this….[/i] Before any of us can say anything further, though, the ship’s alarms blare again. “The ships are getting closer,” Sierra says, worriedly. “They’d have to be fleeing the Collapse,” I muse quietly as I feel the bottom of my stomach drop out. “Which would mean…” I lean past Sierra to check the computer, looking in the opposite direction for what I know must be there – after only a few seconds of scrolling, the onboard instruments start glitching, unable to comprehend what they’re detecting. I pull an image up onto the view screen, seeing only an impenetrable blackness swallowing the light of the distant stars…. [i]Why did he send us here?[/i] “Get us out of here, then!” Drew shouts, but Sierra stops him by shaking her head. “And go where? This is the Collapse – we know how this ends already.” “But…but how?” Drew moans, an unfamiliar note of fear in his voice. “Just…how?” “I don’t know,” is all I can respond with, though inside the voice repeats. [i]The Speaker knew….somehow, he knew.[/i] Unable to stop the thought, and unable to do anything further, I reach for Sierra’s hand. She looks at me quietly as she squeezes my fingers tightly. Drew sees us and wraps his arms around our shoulders, unable to even bring himself to quip. [i]Is this what the Speaker wanted? To just do away with us for knowing too much? Or is this another enemy, something even more powerful, that’s done this to us?[/i] Fearing I’ll never know, I resign myself with my companions to the inevitability of history repeating itself. The Golden Age ships draw closer as the Darkness bears down upon us, our small ship stuck in the middle, preparing to become part of the mystery we’d hoped to unravel.