Zara let go of the handlebars with one hand and wiped the visor off her helmet. Immediately, the sand covered it. In the middle of this storm, she could see no further than the nose of her Sparrow and could only navigate thanks to the topographic map projected by her Ghost on the dashboard. Yet, she did not reduce her speed, and rushed into the titanic swirls of sand, each gust nearly overturning her vehicle.

"How much further is it?"

"A few more kilometers." Koryl's voice was crackling on the radio. "But there's something strange..."

The dune rose, and Zara entered onto the track at full speed. The whine of the engine was hidden by the howling wind.

"The distress beacon is a hundred meters underground. But according to our readings, there is nothing there, only sand!"

"It must come from a cave. We'll see once we get there."

"I don't like it. With this storm, I can no longer contact the City, and the sand jams the transmat."

Suddenly, the Sparrow passed the crest of a huge dune and began to roll down the steep slope, the blast of the gravity coils lifting a cloud of sand in their wake. Zara was surprised by this sudden change in direction: according to her map, the dune must have been much higher.

"Koryl, how old are these readings?"

"Last week."

"It's not normal. Even with the storm, such a mass of sand can't vanish into thin air..."

They were going down faster and faster. Zara tried to reduce their speed but activating the airbrakes amid all these gusts could cause them to tumble. The Guardian wiped her helmet again, without any real improvement.

"Zara, stop!"

She did not try to understand the order of the Ghost and slammed the brakes. The airbrakes deployed, and Zara had to fight to preserve the balance of the Sparrow. Suddenly, a huge ravine appeared right in front of them. The sand slope surrounded it, forming a giant sinkhole.

She clenched her teeth and pushed the brake levers with all her might, but they were going much too fast. As the Sparrow crossed the edge of the chasm, Zara jumped out of her seat and fell into the unknown.

The sunlight was obscured by the storm, and they soon plunged into darkness. Zara counted one hundred, then two hundred meters. The gusts of wind became scarcer, and she felt nothing but the cool air filling the abyss.

Koryl shone a beam of light downward, and she could see the ground approaching. A perfectly controlled glide gently deposited her on the sea of sand that piled up at the bottom of the precipice. The Warlock raised her eyes to the sky: the crack stretched far above them, like a luminous scar in the darkness. Not far from them, a smoking metal carcass was all that remained of their Sparrow.

"At least we're in one piece."

She grew a Solar orb and projected it upward. The improvised flare revealed the ruined facades of what were once huge skyscrapers, long since buried under the Martian desert.

"Unbelievable," the Ghost whispered. "I didn't think another one would be discovered after Freehold."

"This one is in an even worse state. Is that where the signal originated?"

"Yes ... A hundred meters to the east."

"Let's hurry. The message sounded urgent."

The duo sank into the ruins. In the darkness, Koryl's beam illuminating skeletal metal structures and windows broken by time, Zara expected a Slave to jump on them at any moment. Even though no one had ever heard of the Hive's presence on Mars...

"Wait a minute." Zara drew her sidearm. "Do you hear that?"

Clang. Clang. Clang.

"Vex," Koryl replied. "What are they doing here?"

"There must be one of their structures around here."

Shots were heard. First, a salvo of Slap Rifles. Then, the sharp blows of a kinetic weapon.

"They fight further ahead. Is it the beacon?"

Koryl nodded and Zara motioned for him to hide. The Warlock started running towards the noise, trying to attract the attention of the machines. She followed the signal to a subway entrance.

Without stopping to run, she crossed the station and came out into a huge tunnel getting lost in the darkness. Koryl's light illuminated the walls, and Zara realized that they were made of vex metal. The entire subway had been converted into machines running on Radiolaria. The trains had been overturned, and the terminal was like being devoured by the copper assemblies.

The Warlock did not have time to question the function of this structure: in an ash cloud covered with milky lightning, a group of Goblins emerged from the folds of space-time. Zara prepared to fight, but the robots immediately turned in the opposite direction and began firing towards the terminal on the other side of the tunnel.

Discharges of solar energy crashed against the concrete wall, shattering the layer of colored tiles that covered it. The salvo ceased, and a hooded silhouette rose from behind its cover, and responded with several bursts of pulse rifle fire, which brought down one of the robots.

"A human!" Koryl cried. "What's he doing there?"

"Later."

The Light cracked between Zara's fingers, and the crystals in her Crown began to glow pale. Thunder struck, and the Warlock spread chaos among the Vex.

When she was sure that the last robot had been reduced to shimmering dust, the Guardian cautiously walked around the terminal.

"Is everything—"

She was interrupted by a trio of bullets that scratched her chest plate. The human was on the ground, crawling backwards, holding her at gunpoint.

"Move back! Who are you?"

Zara put her weapon away and gently removed her helmet, then put her hands in evidence. The voice was that of a woman, but her face remained hidden in the shadows.

"Calm down. My name is Zara, and I'm a friend."

"That remains to be seen."

"Willow!" A Ghost with curved petals appeared from behind the human, much to Zara's surprise. "Please put the gun down. She is a Guardian, not an enemy."

"It was you who sent that distress signal?" asked Koryl, coming out of hiding.

"Yes, I did. My name is Lysis, and this is Willow."

"How did you get here?" Zara pointed to the Vex structures.

"I was looking for my Guardian in this ruined city. Barely awake, the Vex fell upon us. They forced us to retreat here. I was hoping to find a working vehicle, but they've all been out of commission for a long time..."

"Can I take a look?" Koryl twirled with a spark of passion in his eye. "I know some things about Golden Age technology."

The two Ghosts headed towards the reserve. Willow got back on her feet and lowered her hood. Under a mass of dark hair, standing out from the dusty face, two green eyes shone mischievously.

"That thing you just did, with the lightning. What was that?"

"Light. You too have this power. There are many things that you will have to assimilate if you want to survive."

"At the moment, I would like to get out of here." Her face cracked with a sarcastic smile. "I wake up in the dark, in the middle of a ruined city with a drone that keeps telling me to run away, I'm attacked by killer robots and a blue-skinned woman comes to the rescue and burns everything to the ground. I've assimilated a lot of stuff already."

"This is just the beginning. To get to the City, we'll have to leave this planet, and then..."

"The City?"

The Warlock remembered how disoriented she had been when she woke up in the ice. She sat down, inviting the young Guardian to do the same, and told her about the world that awaited her beyond the dunes of Mars.

Time passed, and Zara feared that the Vex would decide to attack again. Eventually, the Ghosts came back and guided them to the reserve: an old compartment containing several personal vehicles in poor condition.

"We managed to repair one of them," Koryl explained. "According to Lysis, the tunnel continues north into the Meridian Bay. However, there is a Vex dam a little further on."

"There is no other way," Zara decided. "Willow, you'll cover us while I drive through the dam."

The human stared at her for a moment and then complied. They took the Sparrow out of the compartment and straddled it. The Braytech logo could be read on the side. The interface was unreadable, but the controls responded.

Without further ado, Zara started the engine, and they headed north. Soon, the fresh air from the underground whipped their faces. Willow squinted her eyes and folded the collar of her hood over her nose to protect herself from the sand.

"Vex straight ahead!" Koryl exclaimed.

"Willow!" Zara leaned over on the handlebars, leaving as much visibility as possible for her passenger.

She placed the barrel of her rifle on the shoulder pad of the Warlock to ensure better stability. She aimed and fired salvo after salvo at the hordes of Hobgoblins who were blocking the way. The radiolarian capsules exploded, spreading the milky fluid over the metal floor. She had a good aim.

A group of Harpies deployed into battle position and shot at the Guardians. The projectiles perforated the armor of the Sparrow, missing the main systems.

Zara cursed and held out a hand, from which a Ball Lightning emerged. The discharge of Light disintegrated the Harpies, and Willow let out a whistle.

"You'll have to teach me how to do this thing!"

"It will wait!"

The path had been cleared, and they passed through the dam. Zara opened the throttle, trying to outrun the Vex as quickly as possible.

"Was the engine damaged?"

"It will hold," Lysis replied. "Golden Age equipment is solid."

"Cyclops at ten o'clock! Zara, move!"

Koryl's warning nailed her, and the Warlock swerved in the opposite direction, leaning to the side to help the gravitational coils. A projectile of Void energy crashed close to them, disintegrating the ground in a devastating crash.

"It's no good," Willow mumbled. "If that thing hits us, we're finished."

"I'll take care of it. Willow, take over."

Zara suddenly let go of the handlebars and propelled herself into the air. Void Light concentrated in the palm of her hand, and a Nova Bomb swept the immense Vex into oblivion before the Warlock touched the ground.

Other Vex units appeared and encircled her. Zara drew her sidearm and prepared to dive at the slightest Slap Rifle blast. Suddenly, a Goblin was almost cut in half by the Sparrow, coming at full speed behind his back. Willow skidded through the air and knocked over two others.

"What are you doing? Hop on!"

Zara quickly got onto the vehicle and let Willow drive them away from the killer robots. A few minutes later, the vex structures gave way to concrete and steel beams. The Guardians were finally able to breathe, but Zara did not recover the handlebars until they exited the tunnel, when it was time to move to the transmat zone. Willow's shooting and driving skills were beyond doubt:

"Once we get back to the City, I'll introduce you to your future best friends. If you make a good impression on them, they'll let you choose a cape."