Rest of the story: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15ew1g89oxjEj5mZRFvv94Ht2Td6lVWkc-Lk7nwplUgg/edit# “Is that it?” Lacer watched as his ship circled around a small cargo ship in Earth’s orbit. “Yeah! I’d recognize that junker anywhere!” Ascella observed, just ahead of the titan. “Alright, transmat’s a-go.” The guardians appeared inside, stumbling over unknown items strewn over the floor. “I can’t see worth a damn. Jolt!” Lacer caught his balance on a metal wall. The impact sent a wave throughout the entire craft. Shortly after, his ghost succeeded in powering up the ship. Everything in the ship was now illuminated by a flickering blue light. They were in a rectangular room, the front of which housed the -blam!-. Behind them were two halls lined with lockers, and they converged on an engine room at the back of the ship. A pack of cards and several cans of empty energy drinks were set on a table in front of them. Countless tools and boxes of junk lay around their feet. “We’re taking Eltanin in this dump?” Ascella kicked a wrench behind her. It clattered against a locker, causing an unknown weapon to groan. “You can clean it up if it bothers you that much, miss.” Lacer walked to the -blam!-. “For someone who was Zahir’s best friend, Kale’s ship is…” “I know, I know, but we’ve gotta go now. Eltanin’s waiting.” He took hold of the ship’s controls. “We’re gonna park at the local airfield, just so we don’t get too many looks.” “Since when were you so self conscious about the ship you fly?” “I always have been. Kale never cared about what people thought of him, but I don’t wanna be known as the hobo titan.” “Mmm, yep, I guess that doesn’t flow as well as hobo hunter.” “Haha, he definitely hated that name, though.” Lacer pulled the ship down to Earth. The shift in movement caused an unsecured drawer by him to burst open. “Woops, better clo-” he looked inside. A collection of labelled data drives displayed themselves to him from their metallic home. “No, I shouldn’t.” He thought, but as he pushed the drawer away, a drive labelled ‘Tivik’ caught his eye. He hesitated for a moment before stuffing it into a pouch on his belt and latching the drawer closed. “What’s that?” Ascella slumped over the chair and looked over Lacer’s shoulder, crossing her arms above the seat. “Later. Let’s get Eltanin.” The cargo ship touched down loudly. Its unkempt appearance earned a few looks from mechanics and passengers milling about, and caused a smile to appear on one woman’s face. She began to make her way over to the ship’s entrance, and was greeted by a crimson clad hunter. “Hey, El! It’s been forever!” Ascella brought Eltanin into a tight hug, knocking the ex-warlock’s breath out. “Yes it has!” Eltanin wheezed, “I really missed you. How have you been?” “I should be asking you that.” The hunter not so subtly turned her head to look at Eltanin’s crutches. “Oh, I’ll be walking on my own in a couple of months, it’s fine. Where’s Lacer?” Eltanin tried to look into the ship. “He’s, uh, changing.” Ascella crossed her arms as the titan exited in a set of rookie titan gear. “Hardcase isn’t as slick as my armor, but it sure looks fine on its own.” Lacer ran his hands along the blue gauntlets covering his arms as he descended. “C’mon, Ascella, Eltanin, we've gotta go. You ready? Know where he is?” He pointed at the latter. “Oh, I know where he is.” Crucius flew out from behind Eltanin, shaking his shell authoritatively. “What’s with that armor?” “I can’t be seen flying this piece of junk, man, you know me. If even one person recognizes me-” “You went through all that trouble changing just to step outside for less than a minute?” Ascella questioned, helping Eltanin into the ship. “It’s a necessary precaution.” Lacer followed the two back inside and put his hands on a table. “Alright, I came upon something real interesting, and I think we should check it out.” He produced the drive from his hand. “You went through a dead man’s stuff?” Ascella put her hands on her hips jokingly. “No, not exactly. Anyway, this thing’s labelled Tivik, and, you know, anything helps. Despite killing a bunch of his assassins, we still know almost nothing about his motives or anything like that, besides wanting to kill us all, and I feel like that might be a little important. Anyone object to taking a looksies?” He held the device to both Eltanin and Ascella. “No? Perfect.” He let his ghost scan the drive. Blue lights swept over the small black rectangle, and the drone projected an image above the table the three surrounded. A bored looking exo leaned back in a chair, flipping a screwdriver into the air and catching it. “It’s Kale! Kale-8!” Eltanin leaned forward. The holographic hunter tossed his toy aside, causing an audible clatter. “Hey, whoever’s got this, probably Zahir, dunno. If you’re hearing this, I either gave it to you, or I’m a dead man. Either way, you’re probably after Tivik, and that means he’s a big problem now. If you’re Zahir, I’m not telling you this directly, because, uh, I feel like you and Heather’ve kinda given up on the whole Tivik thing at this point, but hey, I’m glad we’re a fireteam now. I mean it... I know. Oh, Kale actually cares about anybody other than himself? Wow!” He leaned forward and slapped his hands onto his knees. “Now, onto what I’ll probably end up calling this recording: Tivik. So, apparently, this guy has a little brother named Vyksis. I was able to snag a moment with him through some… connections. Anyway, he told me a lot. At least, a lot compared to what we know. Probably won’t help too much, but here it is: Did you know that Tivik was on our side at one point, or he wanted to be? Our buddy Vyksis is actually allied with the city, and he said Tivik would probably be with him right now, if he wasn’t, you know, a murderer. I know this is confusing. Why would a guardian sympathizer try to kill us? Here’s my theory. His first kill, or, I guess, let’s see here… one, two, three… triple kill, was an accident, or a mistake. I know Eliksni. They stick to their code. As a friendly, he’d do anything BUT kill an entire three guardians. So, you want to join them, but you’ve gone and become infamous for allegedly killing an entire fireteam. What do you do? You indulge in your fame. There’s no turning back after you so blatantly take a side, and I know what that’s like. I’ve done some interesting things, and Zahir’s barely cleared my name to let me run Vanguard ops with him. Loyalty and commitment? They’re pretty solid things that you can’t mess with easily. Now, I’m not saying we should feel pity for the guy. He’s an Eliksni, and, whatever the case, he killed our guys. Do with this information what you will. Burn it, lose my beautiful voice, pawn it off, whatever. If it’s you, Zahir, keep at it, bud. Anybody else? Good luck, unless you’ve already put this “Guardian Killer” into the ground. I’m sure it was easy as pie. Kale out.” - “A gift, Vyksis. I crafted it on my travels.” Tivik handed a small, metallic replica of the Traveler to his younger brother. The smaller Eliksni took it up in his claws, inspecting it in amazement. “That is what I seek, brother. Our ancestors were blessed by the Great Machine, and I believe we can be chosen, we can be more, just as humanity is. “How?” Vyksis closed his hand around the contraption. “Warfare is not an option. I believe their city is a bastion that cannot be felled.” The vandal looked out the window of their rickety camp. The Traveler was barely visible in the distance, hidden among the darkness of the night and countless clouds, but Tivik could still see it as clearly as he had when he stood at the apex of the American continents. “The way to glory is alongside them.”