Note: Words spoken in the Eliksni language are italicized Table of Contents https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/229522482/0/0 The light fades, and I find myself in a large dark hall, made entirely of carved stone. Eliksni and humans fill the space ahead of me, and Sinekis stands by my side. [i]"Welcome to the Black Garden,"[/i] he hisses ominously. A woman steps up, tailed by a Servitor, and discloses, "This place isn't on any known map of space and time, sir. I'd assume we just keep going." [i]"I have already sent scouts ahead,"[/i] Sinekis rumbles. I nod, and he barks, [i]"Forward! We hunt the Vex!"[/i] The small army lurches into movement, filing down the hall. We pass lifeless husks of Vex, covered in moss and standing against the walls as if waiting for something. "They're in some kind of stasis," the woman analyzes, "It'd probably be best not to mess with 'em..." The column progresses in tense silence. We soon pass over the remains of several destroyed Vex. And a few dead Eliksni. The members of my fireteam form a protective circle around me, eyeing the path behind us and the unmoving Vex lining the path. "Good thing this path goes one way," a man says. "Let's hope they don't change the path behind us," another mutters. "They can do that?" A woman questions. "Not sure," the second replies forebodingly. The procession crosses two more rooms connected by winding passageways, leaving more dead Vex and Eliksni behind. After some time, I turn a corner and stop. The passageway ends in a drop, opening to a lower path. A handful of Vandals are at the edge, organizing and assisting everyone as they drop. Sinekis and I step up to the narrow exit and the Vandals stop us for a moment while the previous jumpers get out of the way. We plummet several meters and hit the stone with heavy thunks. Four Vandals send us off and attend to my fireteam as they join us. Now we walk up a slope, towards a tall rectangular opening that lets in light from outside. I pass through and am met with an intimidating sight. The path turns sharply right, leaving a sheer cliff. A maze stretches as far as the eye can see, its high walls topped with fields of exotic plant life. Tendrils of some mysterious black substance trail upwards, joining the layer of clouds in the sky above. "Great Machine be with us," a man mumbles. "Light," a woman gasps quietly, "I'm already lost." "Then we're screwed," another man jokes weakly. "Vanguard!" A man calls, waving to me over the heads of a crew, and I notice that the procession has stopped, "Winter's scouts are up here waitin' for you!" [i]"Make way,"[/i] Sinekis commands immediately, and the soldiers hurriedly separate to open up a path for us. Sinekis and I weave between them and come out at the front of the gathering, where a Captain and her crew block the way. [i]"What have you found?"[/i] Sinekis inquires. [i]"The passage goes deeper,"[/i] the Captain describes, [i]"We are getting close. The Vex here are awake and block our route. There will be resistance."[/i] [i]"Very well,"[/i] Sinekis clicks and turns to me, [i]"Your orders, Vanguard?"[/i] "Keep going," I command. Sinekis chirrs happily and directs the Captain. They send out a group of Vandals that wrap themselves in stealth skins and disappear. We don't have to wait long before the sounds of battle pierce the air. The waiting crews know what to do without instructions, and rush to join the fight. Sinekis strolls behind them, and I accompany him with my fireteam and a squad of Vandals. The firefight comes into view, revealing our attack force dispatching the few Vex that are in the area. A Vex Cyclops sits in their way, trying to shoot them as they take cover and riddle it with ammunition. It's powerful blasts shatter rock and send bodies flying when it hits its target, but it is quickly dispatched despite its cannon shots. The crews move past it's wreckage and into the Vex structure it had been guarding. Sinekis and I walk behind them with our escort, letting them advance freely. Sinekis chats with me casually, [i]"It is a day of glorious battles, Vanguard. Our blades will tear into the greatest Minds of the Vex. And we have already felled a Cabal Primus. A very good accident, yes?"[/i] We traipse into the structure as Sinekis rambles, [i]"Now you are Primus-Slayer. A very honorable title."[/i] "I didn't kill it," I recall. "No, Vanguard?" Sinekis negates, [i]"You command us. Your leadership killed the Primus."[/i] "The crews did it," I correct. "And they will be acknowledged and rewarded for their bravery," Sinekis disputes, "But if every being that aided in the death of such a beast was titled, the title would lose its worth." "He's got a point," one of the men in my fireteam reflects. I don't argue further, and we return to silence. The crews in front of us begin to bunch up, and gunfire sounds from around the next corner. Soldiers dart around the bend and into the room in small groups, slowing our progress. A Vandal pushes its way back through the column to us and informs, [i]"The Vex have a barrier, protected by a Mind. It is troublesome."[/i] [i]"Then we will destroy it,"[/i] Sinekis hisses, dismissing the Vandal. The column trickles onward until it's our turn to round the corner. One of the men of my fireteam peers around the bend first, then jerks back and chokes out, "Light, that's big!" "Let me see," a woman says, leaning past him then snapping back and stifling a yelp, "Yeah, that's a Mind." "Ladies first?" The man tries. "Funny," the woman scoffs, "That's why I was waiting for you." A Vandal grows impatient and pushes the two along, and we chase them out into a large room. Any basic Vex units that had occupied the area were all ready destroyed, and the crews fill the space, using a number of stone projections as cover. A grid-like wall of light forms a barrier to the left, blocking the path. One massive Vex unit, a Hydra with shields rotating around it that match the barrier, drifts in the center of the room, spinning to unleash explosive barrages on the intruders around it. [i]"Hm,"[/i] Sinekis observes, slightly impressed, [i]"It is big."[/i]