Before this story begins, I would like to give a huge shout out over to Chie00Chan of Twitter for making this wonderful piece of work of Marcus Noin. I highly recommend you check her out and give her a ton of support for her art. It'd be much appreciated. Now, with that out of the way, let's move on to the story!

Zirith's PoV

I... I can't believe it. I can't believe all of that just happened. First we encountered an armys worth of Vex underneath the planets surface, then we encountered an Axis Mind that was basically immune to our attacks, and now we just lost a teammate!? This can't be happening!

And what makes it worst is that... I was the one responsible for it. I was the one responsible for destroying the gate that Marcus went through. I was the one that destroyed his way back.

When Gale said that we had to leave, at first i outright refused. There was no way I was leaving him! For all we know, he could've been somewhere dangerous. Somewhere that he wouldn't be able to handle himself! But... at the end, I had no choice. As more Vex arrived and gave chase to us, along with Zakren, me and Gale had to fall back and make our way back to the surface to report back to the Vanguard of what had transpired. As we did, we had to fight through hordes of Vex that had blocked our way. But unfortunately, as we began our escape, Gale tried to make contact with the Tower only to find that we've lost the signal to The Tower. Did they actually block us? For what reason? To make sure we dont call in for help? Maybe, but that's only a theory as of now.

"Come on, come on, keep pushing! We can not let the Vex prevent us from telling the Vanguard of what's happened!" I heard Gale spoke out to me as I heard the sound of a shotgun being used on a Minotaur, hearing the sound of its screech as it dropped dead. Hearing all of that caused me to snap from my thoughts to the situation I was in. I turned my head and saw a Goblin trying to sneak up on me from behind and I shot my pulse rifle into its weak spot, killing it quickly as it dropped dead with a thud.

"Zirith, on your left!" Gale called out to me as he punched a Harpy right at the eye, destroying it as the rest of his fist went through the floating Vex. I quickly turned to my left to see a Hobgoblin standing at one of the upper openings of the tunnel walls. Before I could react, the Hobgoblin took aim and fired, hitting me right in the leg. I yell out in pain as I stumbled a bit but thankfully I managed to regain my footing. Gritting my teeth as my Ghost heals my leg, I pulled out a rocket launcher from my inventory and aimed it right at the Hobgoblin. I fired a rocket at it and once it made contact, it exploded into tiny little bits, dropping onto the ground. Feeling my leg healed up, I continue my run through the tunnel as I reload.

"How close are we to the exit!?" I called out to Gale as I fired another rocket at a group of Goblins that appeared in one of the smaller openings at the right side of the tunnel.

"Ghost?" Gale asked his Ghost as he pulled out the Hammer of Sol and tossed it at a Hydra that appeared to our left.

"We're at close proximity to it. Once we've reached the end of this tunnel and turn right, you'll see it." I heard his Ghost say to him as we finished off the Hyrda, watching it drop down before exploding into little bits. I saw Gale nod before looking at me.

"You heard him, so keep pushing!" Gale ordered me then continued to run. I nod and with greater determination, we pushed harder through the horde Vex killing any that got in our way. Soon as we arrived at the end of the tunnelway and turned right we saw a big hole on the roof with sunlight beaming down through it.

"There it is!" Gale yelled out to me when he saw the hole. "Once we've reached the end of this tunnel way, our focus should be to make our way to the surface! Do not hesitate, not even for a second!" He ordered me. I nod and soon we've arrived at the end of the tunnel with the hole above us. "Move up, now!" Gale ordered as I saw him stop and turn to face the Vex, firing his scout rifle at the few that were to close to us.

Nodding, I hovered myself up to the wall and let out a grunt as I landed onto one of the edges of the wall. I then began my way up as I heard gunfire from Gale below me. Soon I heard the gunfire stop and I look down to see Gale lifting himself up and following behind me. 'Thank god.' I thought to myself in relief before looking back up and continuing my climb.

After maybe an hour of climbing and dodging, we finally arrived back up top to the sandy surface of the planet. The second we arrived back up top, Gale immediately looked over to me and said "Sparrow, now!". I nodded at him and summoned my sparrow, with him doing the same. We then sped off away from the pit just as the Vex arrived.

Third Person PoV

As both Guardians took off on their sparrows, Zakren and its Vex forces teleported to where they once stood. They scanned around their surroundings to see where the two had gone and saw them already at a far distance away from them.

As they watched them flee, Zakren slowly tightened its robotic hand as it let out a low growl. Its one eye glowed brightly in anger. It had failed. Not only did he not kill a single one of them, but he had also failed on preventing their escaping. This was bad.

Some of the Vex started to continue their chase after the Guardians despite their far distance when the mind spoke out in their language.

"Stop."

The Vex stop in their place and look up at Zakren, confused as to why it would give them such an order.

"Bigger priorities."

The mind looked down at the Vex.

"Return Underground."

"Repair Gate."

"Prepare for Hunter."

"Must not let him interfere with plan."

"Must not let him join the Titan."

Complying with its order, the Vex teleported back underneath Mercury's surface leaving the Mind alone. It took one glance at the desert land in front of it before it turned and teleported back underground, with only one thing on his mind.

Must return to Remnamt.

Timeskip, brought to you by Zakren surrounded by Vex.

Gale and Zirith were resting beside one of the Vex structures with no sign of Vex around the surrounding area. Zirith was sitting against the wall of the structure with her helmet off, hugging her legs close, as Gale had his Ghost out, its parts orbiting around its 'eye'.

"Marcus, this is Gale-49, do you read me? If you are listening, please respond." Gale spoke out, hoping that he would make some sort of connection with the Hunter of his fireteam. Static was his only answer. "Damn it." Gale muttered in frustration, tightening his right hand. "Where the hell did that gate take him?" He asked himself. Sighing and shaking his head, he lowered his left hand as the parts of his Ghost goes back into place on the orb.

"I'm sorry, Gale. I did everything I could." Gales Ghost said in a sorrowful tone. "I tried every frequency I had available, and I still have nothing."

"There's no need to apologize, Ghost. Thank you for trying." Gale said to his companion. "Now, see if you can make contact with the Vanguard. They deserve to know what's happened." Nodding, his Ghost vanished back into its spot within the Titans head. With now only him and Zirith out in the open, Gale looked over at the Warlock who had been silent the whole time. "You okay?" He asked her.

Zirith slowly and silently nodded her head, not looking over at her leader.

Gale stared at her for a minute in absolute silence. "You blame yourself for what happened to Marcus, don't you?" He asked her.

Zirith flinched at the mention of the Hunters name and hugged her legs closer to her body, hiding her face with her legs.

This had only confirmed his suspicions.

"I understand how you feel. I too am greatly upset about Marcus going missing." Gale said to her. "But I can assure you, none of this is your fault."

A few moments of silence goes by when Zirith clenched her fists. "...How? How could it not be my fault?" She spoke out softly when she finally looked at him. Gale could see the tears forming around her eyes. "You saw what happened back there. I was the one that got reckless and casted that Nova Bomb. I was the one that destroyed the Vex Gate. I was the one that started all of this." She said as tears began to roll down her cheek. "Had I not been so reckless... he would still be here. By our side."

Gale lets out a soft sigh and walked up to her. She watched him carefully as he made his way by her side and knelt down next to her and took off his helmet, looking at her right in the eye with his blue, robotic eyes. Eyes that the Warlock had grown fond of for years now. "You didn't know any of that would happen. You simply acted on your instincts to protect a fellow Guardian. And I would've done the same had our positions switch." He said to her in a comforting tone.

Zirith looked at the Titan in silence for a bit before forcing herself to look away. "But you're not as reckless as me. You would've prevented all of this from happening had you've been in my shoes, you know that." She said to him with sorrow.

"No. I don't." Gale said as he shook his head softly. "For all I know, the same thing would've happened regardless if I had been the one protecting you. But right now's not the time to beat yourself over it." Then, much to Ziriths shock and surprise, Gale reached his hand over and cupped her right cheek gently, wiping away her tear with his thumb. Subconsciously, she moved her hand over to his, brushing over it as she looked back into his eyes. "Marcus is still out there. Where exactly he is, I'm not sure. But we can not let the past distract us from finding him." He said to her. "We will find him. And we will bring him back home."

Zirith sat there as she looked into the eyes of the Titan before slowly nodding, wiping away the rest of her tears. "I... you're right." She said to him. "I'm sorry. It's just... I miss him. I miss him so much." She said to Gale with a depressed tone.

"Me too, Zirith. Me too." Gale said to her with a sigh. Gale then gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into an embrace. Zirith blushes lightly from the action but returns the embrace, tightening her grip around Gale.

They sat their in silence as they enjoyed their moment together. But as they did, Gales Ghost finally speaks up as it appeared by the Titans side. "I finally got a signal. Shall I patch it through?" The Ghost asked his Guardian.

Gale and Zirith look at each other for a moment. The both of them nod at each other and Gale looks over at his Ghost. "Proceed." The parts of the Ghost then began to orbit around the orb as both Gale and Zirith stand back up. "Commander Zavala, this is Gale-49 of Fireteam Omega. Do you copy?" He spoke out.

"Roger Fireteam Omega. What's your status?" Zavalas voice spoke out from the comms.

Gale let's out a sigh of relief. 'Finally.' He thought to himself before regaining his posture. "Not well, I'm afraid. We were successful in destroying the Vex Gates, but at a cost. We lost Marcus during the operation." He said to him.

"...Come again, Gale? Did you just say that you lost Marcus?" Zavala asked him, shock evident in his voice.

"Affirmative, sir. Confirmed MIA." Gale said with a nod. "When we were about to destroy the massive Vex Gate, the Axis Mind was about to crush me and Marcus stepped in to save my life, which resulted in him going through the Gate. And when the mind attempted to continue its attack on me, Zirith stepped in and casted a Nova Bomb at it only for it to miss and hit the Gate, destroying it." Gale explained.

It was silent at the Vanguards end as Zavala processed all of the info he was just given. "I see..." Zavala finally spoke. "Gale, I need you and Zirith to report back to the Tower. We'll discuss this further back in the hall."

"Understood, Commander. Gale-49 out." Gale said to Zavala. Gale then ended the communication between him and the Vanguard and looked over at Zirith. "You heard him. Let's get moving."

Zirith nods at him. "Right." She said. She the pulls out her hand as her Ghost appears. "Ghost, bring down my ship. It's time to head home."

"On it." Ziriths Ghost said to her before vanishing.

And now they wait for their ships to arrive at their location. And as they did, one thing was on Ziriths mind.

'Stay safe, Marcus. Wherever you are.'

Timeskip, brought to you by Zirith and Gale-49 embracing each other.

Gale-49 and Zirith arrived back at The Last City and were now approaching The Tower. They steer their ships over to the courtyard and once they were close enough they blinked out and landed with a soft thud. With their ships making their way back to the hanger via autopilot, Gale and Zirith both make their way down to The Hall of Guardians passing by other Guardians that were around, either relaxing from a mission they just finished, getting new weapons from Banshee-44 or having their engrams decrypted by Master Rahool.

The two their way down the stairs to the hall and walked to the end where the Vanguard were. When they arrived, they saw them at the table like usual with the same Hologram of Mercury.

Zavala took notice of their arrival and looked at them. They saw the serious look on his face. "Good. You've finally arrived." He said to them. Ikora and Cayde look over at Fireteam Omega with the same serious look on their faces. But there were two other emotions mixed within.

Distress and relief.

Distress for being told of what happened.

And relief for seeing the two of them in one piece.

"Now that you are here. I need you to explain to us what exactly happened down there. Go into every last detail." Zavala said to them.

Gale and Zirith glance at each other for a second before they look back at Zavala and nod at him. They then began to explain everything that had happened during the mission.

To the hordes of Vex that they had to fight through when they went down the pit.

To finding the large amount of Vex Gates.

To the arrival of Zakren and their fight against the Axis Mind.

To Marcus saving Gales life and him going through the massive Gate.

To the destruction of the massive Vex Gate.

To their escape from the planet.

As they finished their explanation of what had occured, Zavala just stood there in silence as he processed all of the info he was given, rubbing his eyes. "I see... do you have any idea as to where the Gate might lead to?" He asked the two.

Gale frowned and shook his head. "I'm afraid not, sir. We have no knowledge on where that Gate leads to." He said to him. "But it's likely that it might've taken him somewhere beyond our solar system."

"What? Somewhere beyond the solar system?" Ikora asked in shock. "And what makes you so sure that's the case?"

"Because when I tried to make contact with him when we made it back to the surface, static was my only response." Gale responded to the Warlock Vanguard.

"Hey, come on now. Let's not get to hasty." Cayde cuts in causing the others to look at him. "For all we know, he could still be here in the system. Maybe hes on Pluto and has no way in making contact with us." He theorized.

"Wherever he is, I'm sure we'll find him. But as of right now, we have bigger priorities." Zavala said. "At this very moment, we have an Axis Mind that's immune to our attacks with an army's worth of Vex hiding underneath Mercury's surface. And we still have no idea on what its intentions are."

"So what are you suggesting?" Ikora asked him.

"What I'm suggesting is that we keep a much closer eye on the planet and monitor all Vex activity 24/7. And hopefully, within that time frame, we'll be able to find a way to destroy Zakren." Zavala said to Ikora.

Cayde then looks over at Gale and Zirith. "As for you two, I'm sending you out to do a search and rescue mission for Marcus. Once you find him, bring him back here in one piece."

Gale nods at Cayde. "Understood." He said to him. "We will begin our mission at once." He said.

The three Vanguard members nod at Gale. "Good luck out there, Guardians." He said to them.

Gale and Zirith nod at him then turned and made their way out of the Hall leaving the Vanguard alone. Cayde then let's out a sigh and leans against his side of the table, rubbing his temple in frustration.

"I know you're worried about him. But I'm sure he'll be fine. He can handle himself out there." Ikora spoke to her friend, in an attempt to calm him.

"I know, I know. But I can't help it." Cayde responded to Ikora as he looked at her, worry in his eyes. "I mean, what if he was sent to an area surrounded by Vex that are like Zakren? What if he becomes overwhelmed by them and... perishes?" He asked her, saying the last part hesitantly.

"...I guess only time will tell." Ikora hesitantly said.

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A soft groan escaped from Marcus's lips as he slowly began to gain consciousness again. His body squirmed a bit on what felt liked to be concrete as he forced himself to sit up, feeling a headache forming as he did. "Oh God, my head..." He grumbled as he rubbed his helmeted head, his vision blurry. "You still with me, Ghost?" He called out.

"Yeah, I am. Thankfully." Ghost said to him as he appeared by his head, looking over at him. "And it looks like you're still in one piece." He comments.

Marcus looked down and examined himself to see if that was truly the case. Nope. Not missing any limbs. So that's good.

"Looks like it." Marcus said to Ghost as he rubbed his wrist.

Ghost then looked around their surroundings when he spoke again. "Um... wait. Where are we?" It asked in confusion.

Marcus blinked from Ghosts question and took a look around his surroundings as well, thankfully his vision clear once more. And... honestly, what he saw was the most confusing thing he has ever seen in his entire life. And he's seen everything!

It looked like they were in the middle of some kind of... advanced military base? We're they back on earth? No, no, that cant be right. All the tech he's seeing right now looks far different then the ones he's seen back on earth. It looked more advanced and clean, hell even fancy looking! And they all shared the same color: white.

But there was one thing that was the most confusing.

"Um. Where's the Vex Gate?" Marcus asked as he looked around. Not a single Vex Gate in sight. "Like, seriously, I can not find it. Did someone drop us off here or something?" He asked, growing ever more confused.

"I'm not sure." Ghost responded to Marcus, just as confused as he was. It then looked up at the sky only to stop and look in shock. "Um. Marcus. You might want to see this." Ghost said to him.

Marcus rose an eyebrow from his shock and looked up at the sky as well. Then, his eyes widen as the same shock Ghost felt filled his body.

Up in the sky... was a moon partially shattered.

"Ghost... I dont think we're in the solar system anymore." Marcus said to his Ghost.

Before Ghost could respond, a sudden bright light filled their vision causing Marcus to quickly shield his eyes in response. "What the!?"

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" A demanding voice suddenly spoke out. Marcus looked over at where the light was coming from and saw a tall Guard Tower with a spotlight shining at them.

"Ghost, hide, now!" Marcus quickly said to his Ghost. Ghost complied and vanished away back into its spot.

Before Marcus could process what was going on, a squadron of soldiers wearing strange armor that looked as fancy as the military base tech here emerged from one of the buildings that was close to him and quickly surrounded him, aiming their rifles at the Hunter. "Drop your weapons! Failure to do so will result in drastic measures!" One of the soldiers, most likely the captain, ordered Marcus.

Marcus looked at the soldiers that had surrounded him and took in what was happening. Only a few words then left from his lips.

"...God damn it."