Tale of the Phantom

Chapter 9: Entry Log 25 - 00:53:21

The camera flickers on and from the view over Cayde's shoulder one can assume his ghost is resting in its all too common spot. The Exo is looking over another map; this time, the paper is old and slightly yellowing with age. Cayde draws a finger over a section as if he's following a path no one else can see. Then, abruptly, he sighs and leans back.

"You sure this is the newest map we have for that part of Mars?" the camera pans, zeroing in on Ikora who frowns at the other vanguard leader.

"No one has been on Mars in decades Cayde, not with the Cabal there." She looks thoughtfully to where the map is off-camera. "If their mission is successful, maybe we'll be able to send a few map makers down there soon."

"Look, I'm just worried they're walking in blind...Wish I could have at least gone." Cayde grumbles the last part and the screen pans back towards him but suddenly stops when it catches Zavala coming closer, a frown on his stony face.

"We have a mess on our hands. Your rookie's team blundered on their mission Cayde. Whatever cease-fire we had with the Cabal just ended." The camera zooms out getting all three members at the table into view and Cayde straightens at the commander's words.

"Hey don't point fingers at Skylar, She's not the leader of the fire team... though Z hardly is one to screw up either. Anyway, you're the one that had them take the Queen's directions."

"Don't act like you don't know those two can be a handful, that's why I sent Haar2 with them. I chose those three because Skylar made contact with The Stranger and Z has been on Mars once before. I knew Haar2 would have to be the peacekeeper with the Queen after what happened last time." Zavala reasons, his frown becoming even more severe. Ikora sighs, shaking her head.

"I knew I should have insisted on a Warlock. Either way, you boys bickering won't get us anywhere. Do you know what happened, Zavala?"

"I don't know the details, only that apparently one of their ghosts failed to break into a secret site. Their ships just landed, somehow they still managed to complete their mission, so they're on their way here as we speak."

Cayde sighs, shaking his head again but none of the leaders say anything else and two minutes tick by on the time clock before a ruckus is heard and the screen pans towards the entrance to the vanguard.

The fire team in question comes in arguing, the two men in front, and Skylar tailing behind, her helmet under her arm.

"-Your ghost messed up, that's all I'm saying." Haar2's sentence is only half heard, but Z seems annoyed all the same, even if his helmet is still on for the time being, his shoulders tell the tale.

"Hey my ghost is as good at hacking as anyone. Beside who was it that thought it was a good idea to climb as high as he could and basically, become a giant broom headed beacon to the Cabal?" Z jabs back, causing the Exo to huff, looking to the side.

"Hey I can't help it alright? It's like an addiction, perching as high as I can is a great challenge. Besides, if the alarm hadn't gone off it wouldn't have been a problem."

Skylar shakes her head and steps in between the two boys after that. By now they were in the room with the leaders and she'd promptly smacked a hand over either their mouths – or at least where they should have been under the helmets. Cayde sighs walking forward, Zavala not far behind as they close in on the three.

"Ladies, ladies. Cool your jets would you?" Cayde grumbles, his arms crossed over his chest. Skylar looks down, her arms dropping as Zavala takes a meaningful step closer.

"I want a report, not a blame game. If you made mistakes fine, but they better be honest." At this order, Haar2 straightens and gives the normal Titan the greeting salute.

"Sorry Sir. We made contact with Mars and headed to decode the messages but we slipped up." He doesn't give any names, just the hard facts. Z grumbles a bit before following suit and talking as well.

"The Cabal's security is a lot more complicated than any of us thought. My ghost took too long and it apparently tripped something to alert the enemy."

"I...wasn't much help." Skylar relented, rubbing her neck. "I was on look out, but I got caught off guard and distracted Z... apparently Mars has some pretty large weasels that have thrived there since they were brought over from earth during the Golden Age."

Off to the side, Cayde snorts, and puts a hand over his eyes, embarrassed. "Damn it, Sky..."

"Sorry..."

Zavala sighs but gets back down to business, choosing to not throw much blame at any of them. "We knew anything could have happened with so little data on Mars left to us. The Cabal was bound to engage us soon enough either way. What matters is that you finished the mission, what did you learn?"

Z nods his head, taking command as leader once more. "We know where the Black Garden is. I'll have my ghost give you our findings." His red and white ghost appears at his words and floats over to the table where Zavala's is, a blue light soon forming between them. Satisfied, the commander gives a short nod.

"Good. You're all dismissed, get some rest."

They all nod and Skylar glances at her mentor, who raises a metal eyebrow before waving at her. She nods once more and turns with the two men to head out. As they walk the camera pans to their retreating backs and picks up Z breaking the tension.

"I still can't believe you got downed by a weasel..." the only response the Golden Gun expert gets is a knife suddenly planted an inch deep into the side of his helmet as Skylar stomps away and Haar turns and starts laughing. Z simply pulls the knife from his helmet. "Yeah, okay, I probably deserved that one."

Cayde's robotic laughter chimes in with his fellow Exo's as the screen slowly fades to black.