D’Ssoad and Riksis followed Eriana along an old path running parallel to the conduit. They passed several rundown colony installations before following a ridge away from the conduit. They traveled down the road for another few minutes before reaching a new crater occupied by more old colony buildings. D’Ssoad was somewhat unsettled by the lack of activity. He was used to seeing either soldiers marching around or Hive scurrying across the landscape, especially this close to the Hellmouth. The area appeared completely deserted. Eriana continued unabated and calmly across the crater, heading toward a mostly intact building up a rise built into the crater wall. As they followed her, D’Ssoad felt an alien presence enter his brain and poke around. It felt similar to the mental attack he felt before, far less extreme but no less invasive. It receded quickly, leaving a sensation like something oily sliding on the inside of his skull. He shivered involuntarily. Evidently Riksis shared the same experience, because he hissed, “Is there a reason we are continually being probed so…discourteously?” “You should be thankful,” Eriana replied curtly. “They’re the reason we’ve been able to stay alive this long so close to the enemy base. And that extra mental shielding they gave will keep the Wizards in the Hellmouth from finding you.” Riksis instinctively looked over his shoulders. “How thoughtful.” D’Ssoad looked ahead and caught a brief glint of light. Squinting, he barely recognized a figure crouched on top of the installation, aiming at them with a long-barreled rifle. “It’s okay, Omar,” Eriana muttered, her hand to her helmet’s comms. “They’re clean. Nothing followed us.” The barrel sunk into the figure as it elongated and rose to full height before leaping off the building. As they drew closer to the building, it reappeared around some lunar boulders and met them. It bore a Light Stalker’s kerchief and carried a long sniper affixed with a blade along the length of the barrel. “You’re late,” it addressed Eriana in a man’s voice. “The others were getting worried.” The Light Master thumbed their way. “I had to make a slight detour.” The Light Stalker glanced at them, cocking his head. “What are a couple of soldiers doing this close to the Hellmouth?” “We need to see Toland,” D’Ssoad answered. “High Command wanted us to get Hive intel and we heard he was the one to ask.” The man gestured for them to follow. “Probably best to continue this inside.” He and Eriana led them to the building, entering it with no effort. At first, D’Ssoad was concerned about the lack of security in place, but then Eriana stepped up to a seemingly blank wall and pressed her hand to it. It shimmered and faded like material made of Glimmer normally does, revealing a darkened hallway. The Risen stepped through, and once D’Ssoad and Riksis entered Eriana went back and sealed the entrance again. They crossed the hall into a twilit room. D’Ssoad and Riksis lingered at the doorway as they took in the scene. The room had a high ceiling, accommodating tall bookcases that held dozens of thick tomes and other artifacts. Several volumes were distributed around tables scattered throughout the room, sharing space with fragments of Hive bone armor and weapons. Built into the wall on their left were three energy cages. D’Ssoad stepped closer and saw a Psion in each cell, each adorned in a peculiar cloak of neon light; one blue, one red, and one purple. The blue one twitched in its cell manically, spinning around to face every noise it heard. The red one had foam dripping out from the edges of its helmet, and at D’Ssoad’s approach it shrieked and rushed at the bars over and over again, each time getting thrown back by a pulse of force. When he saw the purple one lying very still, he thought it was dead, until he noticed it scratching skulls and crossbones into the floor with its armored glove. “They’re mad,” Riksis assessed in a low growl as the red one tried to grab him through the bars before getting tossed to the ground again. “They have to be.” They turned to see a grizzled old man in robes and a Light Master’s armband standing in the doorway to another room. Beside him were Eriana and the Light Stalker without his helmet on, revealing a young man with a dark buzz cut. They entered the room and were followed by three other Risen in the doorway behind them. Two were Light Breakers, a woman with oriental features and a large man with long blonde hair drawn back and bound behind his head, and the last was another Light Stalker, a smaller woman with darker skin and black hair. “You can take your helmet off if you like, human,” the old man spoke to D’Ssoad. “The facility is sealed and oxygenated. I’m afraid we don’t have the resources to accommodate your Eliksni officer, though.” “Hopefully, we won’t be here long enough for that to be a problem,” Riksis replied as his lieutenant removed his helmet. “What did you say?” The man came up and gestured to the Psions. “They have to be mad. At their telepathic acuity, it’s the only way we can maintain our cover. They don’t retain any information to scry, just pump out raw emotions to any unauthorized creature within a certain radius. The Cabal call them Psion Flayers. Blue one is Kolar, the red, Vatch, and purple, Numoc.” “And you are…?” D’Ssoad led. “Toland,” the man replied, then gestured back to the others. “And these are [i]my[/i] Flayers. You’ve already met Eriana-3 and Omar Agah. The other Light Stalker is Sai Mota and the Light Breakers are Wei Ning and Vell Tarlowe.” D’Ssoad nodded to them. “You’re all Risen.” “Have to be,” Wei answered, crossing her arms. “No mortal here without Light would survive out here otherwise. They’d be crazy to try…crazier than us, that is. But Eriana says you came here on your own. That ranks you between us and the Psions in the cages.” Riksis chuckled, “But just below our masters who ordered us here and the Exo who told us how to find you.” Toland smirked and shook his head. “Echo sent you, did he? Sometimes I miss the intelligent arguments we had, half of them settled through impromptu experiments. What did he have to say?” “We’re here to get information on the Hive, and he said you were the man to go to,” D’Ssoad responded. Toland nodded. “I am. My time here has been *very* productive, and should prove useful to your war efforts.” He dove a hand into a pocket of his robes. He frowned as the item he sought wasn’t there, then dug through other pockets and patted his robes. “Has anyone seen my journal?” “Eris said you lent it to her,” Omar spoke up. Toland whirled around in dismay. “I did no such thing! Light damn, where is she? [i]Eris![/i]” Loud clattering was heard down the hall Toland’s Flayers had come from, followed by a dark blur erupting through the doorway. “I’m here, I’m here!” it called out. “I was just—” It was abruptly stopped by one of the examination tables, throwing both to the floor and scattering the table’s bones and books around the room. D’Ssoad and Riksis stepped back as several fragments skittered to their feet, followed by the stilled blur. She was another Light Stalker with brown hair, bright green eyes, and an embarrassed grimace stretched across her face. “Sorry,” she muttered. Toland pinched the bridge of his nose. “Eris. What have I told you about running toward the potentially volatile equipment?” Eris staggered to her feet, brushing dust off her clothes. “I know, but—” “And about ‘borrowing’ my journal without my permission?” he interrupted. “Oh, yeah, about that—” “[i]And[/i] about generally stopping these obnoxious behaviors immediately?” “I don’t recall you calling them obnoxious—” Toland raised his hand. “No, shut up. No excuses this time. Give me back my journal and pick this mess up. Now.” Eris groaned in displeasure as she pulled out a large tablet and handed it to Toland before walking over and righting the table. Riksis picked up a fragment at his feet and examined it. “You run a tight operation here, Flayer.” Toland scowled. “Do you want my counter-barbs or help? Your choice.” He turned on the tablet and swiped through several files. “At least everything appears intact. My displeasure has marginally lessened, Eris.” He gestured for D’Ssoad and Riksis to join him as he walked over to the table. After pressing a few buttons, he set the tablet down on the surface, and it began to display a multitude of holographic images of Hive creatures, artifacts, tunnel networks, and more. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Groups/Post?groupId=1371758&postId=244991280&sort=0&page=0]Table of Contents[/url]