Simon had made himself begrudgingly comfortable into one of the finely crafted seats within the shuttle, still feeling alien to the deceptive surroundings that contradicted the ship’s rough external appearance. The first member of the assembled Guardians and the included Eliksni, was Andromedai, a well known Guardian who needed little introductions and was the apparent leader of the Fireteam of this mission. Though if there was a proper term given the circumstances, Simon would consider this force a well armed platoon if anything. Andromedai eventually vacated the space and headed back to the cockpit where her Ghost, Orion, gave the briefing.

Orion detailed the location of their assignment was some area called the Exclusion Zone. Simon instantly imagines the ever tightly Cabal controlled sector of Mars’s Meridian Bay; a heavily fortified area where hundreds of Cabal operated outposts and installations meant to ward off incursions or dissuade anyone from even trying to access or even tamper with the hulking giants’ assets. Currently however, the Cabal’s Sand Eater Legion has been hard pressed by not only Guardians that have since penetrated once secured perimeter but the seemingly endless tides of hostile Vex machines that occasionally clash with the tired Legion. But this particular sector was on Earth however going by Orion's choice of words.

Andromedai’s Ghost then explained further that their specific objective was tied to a new Fallen House identified as the House of Blight that resides within this 'Exclusion Zone'. Due to this House of Blight’s quite noticeable and remarkable resourcefulness of acquiring weaponry and gear of an impressive nature any Fallen House would be jealous of, it was speculated that this particular House may not be happening upon this equipment but rather receiving help from an unknown provider. Another House maybe? It was the most logical conclusion since most other Fallen Houses at least maintained communication with one another despite their rivalries; any one else probably had little reason to speak with a charismatic voice and let their weapon so the talking.

Orion then brought the Fireteam’s mission objectives to attention and thoroughly explained the details. Their objectives were the locating and elimination of any local outposts within the mission AO (Area of Operation) after securing any vital intel either on the House or the possible supplier. Aside from securing a former military compound to allow full coordination with the shuttle to provide precision airstrike, their main goal was the main facility the House of Blight where they would hope to capture or, taking into the Ghost’s personal comment, kill whomever leads the newly formed House as well as the acquiring of any further information on their own or any affiliated operations. Orion furthermore detailed the existence of heavy artillery and an unidentified war machine, proving the threat House of Blight posed. 

After the mission briefing, Andromedai’s Ghost thus began to explain to explain the ground rules aboard the shuttle but Simon decided not to give this segment much of his undivided attention and allowed Cipher to monitor and address the details should they turn up. After Orion had finished his part, he quickly vanished from existence just as the Ghost had appeared to brief them. Minutes later, Andromedai returned from the cockpit, explaining that the flight was to take possibly several hours and advised everyone to basically meet and great as a team building exercise. With the time it was going to take to get there, he’d might as well get to know the rest of his team.

The first Guardian to introduce themselves was Aiden-12, a Titan who hailed from Venus. Based on the a few reports he’d gone over with the Vanguard, Aiden-12 has exhibited a rather active personality for Exo that has been described as maniacal at times. Simon could only hope this Exo maintains his cool, especially on a mission like this until the weapons-free order is given.  Aiden-12’s attention seemed to be drawn to yet another Titan in the room Simon also found to be ill equipped. This discovery did not appeal too well to him as he considered the circumstances and the dangers of this mission. This recruit appeared to show some experience but how far would that get him however? More importantly though, was he ready? Simon noted this and was sure to speak to Andromedai on the topic later.

The next member of the Fireteam had at first remained cloaked in a transparent veil that Simon was quick to identify the moment he caught the Hunter’s visual distortion within the shuttle; an effect he had seen several times while participating on official business with the Vanguard while working with other Hunter and even in the Crucible when he competed against them. Once the Guardian had openly de-cloaked, the Hunter identified himself as Spectre whom revealed his nativity to Mars as the place of rebirth into a Guardian. Spectre spoke with high confidence and assurance of his role; admirable traits for sure if they didn’t come off as boasting or being cocky, thinking little of the House of Blight when comparing such previous threats such as Skolas and the Kell’s House or Wolves or even Crota. Simon was sure Spectre was skilled if he was able to conquer such threats but questioned the Hunter’s overall reliability to the group as a whole.

The next introduction came from the Eliknsi everyone had been keeping their eyes on cautiously the moment they saw him. Their new Fallen member soon called himself Kazik whom revealed his relevance to the mission with personal knowledge of how other Fallen operated which would prove useful if they are to encounter this new House very soon. Though it was harder to make out what an Eliknsi could be thinking of or where their attention was set to due to their unfamiliar expressions that was rarely examined upon, Simon could make out an initial interest with Kazik as he too was also scanning and observing the occupants within the craft. 

However, it appeared that Kazik also found the newborn Guardian Simon now recalled as Galen a subject to the Eliksni’s fascination. Kazik said nothing on this, leading Simon to surmise the Eliksni was either intrigued by Galen’s unimpressive setup or, hopefully, concerned for the Guardian’s well being. Simon knew that a Khvostov 7G-02 would do little against a Fallen Walker if one did show up and hoped Galen would soon be more properly equipped in time should the encounter be realized.

Kazik continued and revealed himself as a gambler as well, producing several unique coins, Strange Coins as they were commonly called, as tokens for a game of poker Spectre had brought up in light of Andromedai’s earlier suggestion. A Fallen that can gamble, thought Simon, amused on the subject but he too knew that the concept shouldn’t be foreign to the Eliksni either; it was simply the image of Kazik playing cards with a Guardian that humored him. Shifting topics while still maintaining focus specifically towards Spectre, Kazik seemed to have reinforced the House of Blight’s credibility as threat worth taking seriously, confirming the need in sending a force larger than a Raid Team to adequately deal with the House.

It was becoming apparent that Spectre was now becoming the object of questionable attention as another Guardian Simon had observed glancing at the confident Hunter manifested some sort of lesser regard in her expression as if she knew Spectre herself. However she did not comment with any similar directed words used by Kazik but capitalized on the Eliksni’s agreement on the necessity of team building through gambling as unusual the way she put it was. Simon eventually remembered, with the help of Cipher digging up past records, this Hunter’s name was Kala whom was also as experienced as Spectre.

Simon almost immediately recognized the next Guardian by the name of Zeruel before the Exo Warlock’s Ghost name Veruna spoke up and introduced him to the rest of the Fireteam. As Zeruel’s Ghost had explained, the Warlock’s ability to speak had been rendered inoperable and thus Veruna now carries the responsibility for being the Guardian’s voice. Simon had glanced over Zeruel’s mission report before that detailed Exo’s ill-fated injury and more but decided to leave such personal information alone. Though from what he had deduced however, Zeruel would prove useful to this mission as well; time will tell of course.

Seeing as everyone has spoken up thus far, Simon decided that it was his turn for an introduction. During the entire time listening and observing his other teammates, Simon had laid back within his seat unknowingly that he had quickly grown accustomed to the well cushioned and leather. Realizing this fact, especially when he was taking the initiative to speak his piece, sat upright and corrected his posture, holding the replicated Helm of Saint-14 within his lap. "I already know of a few of you though I believe many of you may have seen me from time to time. You may call me Simon, I primarily work for the Vanguard and occasionally with Lord Shaxx in training new Guardians and sometimes participating in high risk missions at times. And this here is my partner Cipher."

[color=6ecff6][i]"Howdy, pleased to meet you all."[/i][/color] Simon's Ghost greeted while phasing into reality.

Leaning forward in his seat, Simon extracted ten Strange Coins out from one of his Mark pouches and neatly spread them across the table. "Now Commander Zavala has ordered me not to gamble while working with new recruits on the field...However that was roughly an hour ago and I am a competitive sort while off shift. Since the point of this is to learn from one another before plunging into Traveler knows where, I'm currently interested in what each of your game faces look like."