Two figures stand on the precipice of one of Mars’s innumerable rusty dunes. A gentle breeze stirs the iron-sand at their feet, forming minuscule eddies of swirling wind and grit. One figure, a man presumably, though save for his voice it was hard to tell under the vacuum proof robes he wore marking him as a scholar of the Traveler’s light, said to his companion, a heavily armored soldier hoisting an improbably long and shockingly light rifle to her helmet’s visor. “Who were you before all of this?” “What?” She replied confused at both the question and the impetus behind it’s asking. “Before...this,” the man said waving his hand over the sandy wastes and the half-buried Clovis Bray facility they were here to investigate. “Before the Traveler, before the war, before you were found by that little spark of the machine god we carry around with us, who were you?” “Yedrix...” the woman trailed off. “I know, I know, I always ask you this out on patrol, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently.” The man, Yedrix, explained “And...” The woman pushed. “We had whole lives before all of this...” Yedrix waved his hand again “The person you are now could be nothing like who you were when you died.” “Alright...” the woman said waiting for the point to come. “Doesn’t that bother you?” Yedrix exclaimed. “Should it?” The woman asked. “What if you were a murderer in your past life? What if you hurt others?” Yedrix postulated “Maybe that’s why we're not supposed to find out who we were?” The woman proposed “Maybe...” Yedrix trailed off Silence. Another gust of wind sprayed sand into the Martian air but the only sound over the coms was the occasional inter break of the breathing of the two guardians. Yedrix broke it. “Do you ever think about how royally, cosmically, unbelievably screwed what we do is?” “What do you mean?” The woman asked. “How many people do you think you’ve killed?” Yedrix queried. “In the crucible?” The woman replied, refocusing her rifle’s scope. “In the field.” Yedrix clarified. “No one.” The woman replied. “That’s a lie.” Yedrix retorted. “No, it’s not!” The woman replied indignant “I haven’t killed anyone out in the field, I’m not a murderer!” “What about the Fallen?” Yedrix asked somberly. “What about them?” The woman replied in a huff. “How many of them do you think you’ve killed?” Yedrix asked “The Fallen aren’t people.” The woman stated resolutely. “No?” Yedrix replied? “No.” The woman reaffirmed. “Why not?” Yedrix asked. The woman paused. “Because.” She finally explained. “Because?” Yedrix asked. “Just because.” The woman answered. “Come on Ava that isn’t good enough.” Yedrix persisted. Ava adjusted her scope again “How many of our people have they killed? How many families have they broken apart?” Yedrix remained silent. “People don’t do that. They don’t hurt innocents. That’s what monsters do, not people.” Ava said resolutely. “What do we do?” Yedrix asked cautiously. “It’s simple, we hunt monsters,” Ava replied. “You think they see it that way?” Yedrix postulated. “Yed, I love you, but we have a mission. You want to wax poetic about the morality of what we do, you can do it at the tower.” Ava stated with an air of finality. Silence. More wind, more dust, more breathing, more adjusting of scopes. Another break. “You know the Traveler once protected them,” Yedrix said. “Hmm...” Ava said paying more attention to the Cabal legionary in her crosshairs. “The Fallen, they’re us,” Yedrix said. “That so?” Ava asked not paying attention. “What would we do if the Traveler left us?” Yedrix asked. Click, crack, whoosh, thud. Ava domed a legionary from half a mile away. “How would we react to losing our god?” Yedrix continued. Click, crack, whoosh, another thud, another legionary. “Why did it leave them?” Yedrix said to himself. Click, crack, whoosh, twang, Ava missed hitting a metal wall next to a third Cabal. Ava huffed in annoyance. “Yed, either shoot with me or stop talking I need to concentrate.” Yedrix sighed and unslung his scout rifle from over his shoulder. “How long do you think he’ll be in there?” “No idea,” Ava replied. Yedrix fought back the urge to keep talking, he loved Ava, but he knew even she had a limit to the number of his questions she would answer, especially on a mission. A minute passed, then two, then ten, both guardians stood still, occasionally taking pot shots at any Cabal unwise enough to stick their head out. Suddenly, jarringly, the silence was broken by the crackling sound of the third member of the fire team on the coms. “Guys (crackle) we’ve got to move (crackle) now!” “Nihilo, everything ok?” Ava asked concerned. “Yes! That’s why I’m panickly saying we have to go because everything is just peachy!” The third member of the fire team, Nihilo-3 responded exasperated and, despite his lack of lungs, out of breath. “Luna, prepare the ship, we’ve got to go,” Ava said to her ghost. “Already on it.” A soft female voice replied. “Spica?” Yedrix asked. “Understood.” A woman’s voice, tinged the accent of a long-dead country that was once known as France, replied. “Nihilo, how far out are you?” Ava asked looking through her scope. “Too far (crackle) the Vex (crackle) pinned down.” The exo replied. “Shit!” Ava cursed. “Spica how far in is he?” Yedrix asked. “Two... maybe three-“ Spica began “Minutes?” Yedrix cut her off worriedly. “Miles.” Spica finished. “Shit!” Yedrix agreed. Yedrix vaulted the sand dune and jump-glided into the air, summoning his sparrow as he hit the apex of his arc. Ava followed suit, trailing slightly behind him. “The tunnels go down three miles?” Ava asked coming abreast of Yedrix. “Old Mars had a deep underground transport system, it’s basically a second city down there,” Yedrix explained. The half-mile between the corpses of Cabal soldiers and the waiting guardians closed in seconds and the Clovis Bray facility’s entrance rapidly approached. The dark maw of the building, with its doors blown off their hinges, and once lit but now very dead lights catching the sunlight in almost sarcastically fleeting flashes of brightness, was an imposing sight. “Do you think we’ll reach him in time?” Yedrix asked as he and Ava sped through the entrance, jumping frantically off their sparrows once they had passed into the dark innards of the Braytech compound. Landing on the ground and unholstering her auto rifle Ava replied, “God’s of Mars I hope so.”