"Alright, what's your problem." Ricochet's voice was flat. It was more of an accusation than a question. The large, dark skinned man leaned forward so that his elbows were on the table. His friend and team mate sat to his right rather than directly across from him at the square table. He had one of his twin Hand Cannons on the surface, scattered with small parts and tools in a floating cloud around it. Fault seemed to know what he was going, even if I didn't. "I don't have a problem." Fault's voice was flat. He paused in what he was doing, plucking a small screw out of the air and bringing it close to his face. His long hair was pulled back, out of his way---he still gave his head a short twitch as though to flick hair away from his face, likely out of habit. "You've got a problem. You're making this a problem. You're not going alone because if you [i]die[/i] without the rest of us there you're done. We didn't get rezzed to get offed again. And there's no telling Diss can do what she does if one of us is perma-dead. Think about the team kid." Ricochet had lowered his voice to a rumbling mutter. It's often difficult to tell if that tone is meant to be personal and soothing or threatening. They might be the same thing for him. "If. And you're missing the fact that I've done it already. Last week, I went in solo. Diss can't do her thing in those dark zones anyway. Found plenty of dead Guardians, plenty of equally dead Ghosts. It's still point and click, even in the future. I don't get why this is different." Fault's tone was flippant. Ricochet took a deep breath. "I knew you'd gone already." Ricochet remarked, sitting up straight and looking around. "I know you knew. You tend to know things. You tend to know more than you're letting on. I'm used to it by now." Fault kept working on his gun. "I'm asking you not to go." Ricochet was looking up a the light above the table now. A Frame shuffled over, sweeping. He tilted his head and cast it a single glance---it paused, it looked up from what it was doing. I saw it processing. "Oh, excuse me." It practically stammered, and reversed course immediately. It didn't even turn around. Just started walking backwards, sweeping in reverse. Possibly putting dust precisely back where it was before it interrupted. Those things are smartasses. "I'm asking you the same question I've been asking you, Big Guy. And I think you're a little too cozy with being the one everyone answers to. I'm going to just keep doing whatever the -blam!- I want until you tell me exactly what your plan is. I deserve to know. And I know you've figured it out." Fault finally looked up from what he was doing. His Hand Cannon was re assembled, and his left hand had come to rest on the grip. Ricochet kept looking at the light, in silence. "Why'd you suddenly lose interest in the Vault? Why are we here? You fought the Cabal like you've fought them before. You hate them. I know how you hate things, and you fight them like you hate them. I don't remember much, but I sure as hell don't remember giant space turtles with shitty guns. You don't buy their shit about the 'Darkness' but you won't say why. You avoid the Vex, but you won't say why. You use Void to power your shield, and you won't say how or why. I already knew how to do everything I do, and you won't say why. You seem to trust Dusk, and you won't say why. You know who Amyra is. You knew exactly where Wally was going to be. And I've never seen you trust a bitch like you trust Fox, but she's some space blueberry from---" Faulted was going to keep going. Ricochet interrupted him. Really, I never thought I'd see someone so completely dismantle anything this Titan set out to do. He seems untouchable in battle. An impregnable fortress of furious determination and calculated fury. Perhaps I'd never given thought to his motives either. Perhaps that's the gap in the armor. Motive. An unstoppable force is best dealt with before it starts moving at all. "What if I don't know?" He'd interrupted to say that. He was still staring at the light. "You don't remember who I am. Neither do I. But you know I wouldn't pull some shit like this, so you've thought of going off on your own. Or offing me. Seems like I'm just going to lead us to the grave, right? Like I'm just pushin' everyone around. Blindly. Got us gear, got us skills, got us allies. For nothin' at all. Seems an awful lot like I'm fighting blind. Doesn't it." He looked away from the light, then. Glanced down at the Hand Cannon, then met Fault's gaze. "You're right. I am. I don't know. I just know that when we woke up, that Vault was the first thing I thought of. I knew about it before we knew about it. I knew about the Cabal before we knew about them. I knew how to use my armor before I got it." He returned his gaze to the light. "I'm not sure who's in control here. I just know that if we're going to do anything about it, we're going to need to be well equipped. And we're going to need you alive." Fault stared at him for a moment longer, then picked up his weapon. Twirled it once on a finger, stowed it at his side. "Wasn't gonna shoot you." He muttered. "Bullshit." Ricochet accused with a smirk. "Wasn't gonna [i]kill[/i] you." Fault amended. "Not for lack of trying." "Whatchu mean bruh? I was just going to negotiate with you." "Mmmhm." Fault shrugged. "Alright. So you got through this conversation without telling me a damn thing. But for some reason now I'm alright with that again. What's next?" "We need a few more people." Ricochet mused. "I don't know where they are though. Well I know where one is, I think I always know where she is though. Other one's going to show up soon. Probably by accident." Fault squinted at him. "You're the worst -blam!-ing prophet in history." "This one anyway." "What?" "Nothing. We need to go to the Crucible. That's where we'll find her." Ricochet nodded, gave the table a pat, and stood up. "How do we know when we find her?" Fault stood up with him, eyebrows furrowed curiously. "We'll know when she kicks our ass." ****************************************** Ricochet knows things, and doesn't have time to explain why he doesn't have time to explain! Fault is back on board, but seems to have suspicions about his old squad leader. And the cast continues to grow, now including a trip to...The Crucible? Where they need to [i]lose[/i]? NEXT CHAPTER: The Cast [Part 2] [i]"They say she's an Angel."[/i]