For the first twenty minutes of the trek back to camp, I'm confident that the injury isn't that bad. It's only after I narrowly avoid a bad spill that Rease rolls his eyes and forces me to use him as a support. "I don't know what sort of point you're trying to prove," he says, as he helps me hobble back towards camp. "I know exactly how bad that hit was." I ignore the pulse of sensation from putting my injured leg down on the ground too heavily, and huff at him. "I'm not trying to prove anything," I explain. "I just don't want to be a burden. I can make my way back to camp myself." He shoots me a flat look, and I feel my face turn red, but I keep my eyes locked on his, refusing to back down.

  "Sure, you could," he says, "if you were willing to take it slow, to avoid tripping or hurting yourself even more." I can read between the lines, and eventually, I break eye contact. "Annie, seriously. What's this about?" he asks, an undercurrent of worry in his voice. I take a deep breath, turning his words over in my head. "What is this about? Frustration at getting hurt, at not being fast enough at climbing? The worry that if a few skates could fuck me up this bad, what might a platoon of Grineer soldiers do? Maybe denial at the injury itself? Some sort of childhood trauma manifesting in an odd way?" I wonder. There's a moment of consideration, before an important question occurs to me. "What am I trying to accomplish by refusing help?" I don't have an answer.

  I flick my eyes up at Rease, who's been patiently waiting as the gears in my head turn. "I don't know," I answer truthfully. I can tell there's worry there, genuine concern, but I'm unable to give him a satisfactory answer. Instead, I just give him a cheeky grin, as a way to lighten the mood. "Maybe I was just hoping you'd get so fed up at my hobble that you'd scoop me up and princess carry me back to camp," I say with a teasing lilt to my voice. He chuckles, a quiet sound that I can feel vibrate in my arm wrapped around his neck. "I can, if you want," he responds, a single eyebrow raised. I giggle, the image of Rease carrying all six feet, one inches of me into camp in his arms, then feel a touch of heat in my ears as I really think about it.

  Then, of Ko-lee, who'd quietly worry about us, and refuse to communicate. Sure, I'd be able to make the case that he was just helping, and that we're poly, and that it doesn't matter, but ultimately it would just be adding stress to an already stressful situation. "I mean, in a perfect world she'd have more time to come to terms with it, after the convo on the ship," I think. I can't read the future- well, I can't read this future, so all I'm able to do is play it by ear. As entertaining as it'd be to have Rease carry me, it's just not worth introducing new problems. "I think I'll take a rain check," I tell him, a small smile on my face. "Maybe after Lunaro. Those games are brutal." He nods, and we continue the trek down dusty red halls towards base camp.

  By the time we get back, we're the second to arrive. There's motion through one of the stone windows; clearly someone on lookout for us. At first, it's casual, but even at a distance I can read the energy. Recognition, then panic, then leaving the lookout to tell the others... "I'm okay!" I shout across, in an attempt to stem any possible panic from my appearance. It still takes a minute for Rease and I to cross the gap from tunnel to ruins, and by the time we reach what was likely at one point the front door, we're met by the rest of the squad.

  "Why didn't you message us?" "Are you okay?" "Are we under attack?"

  Of course, I'm immediately peppered by questions, and I raise my hands, in an attempt to stem the tide. "Guys, seriously, I'm fine, we're fine. Sort of fine," I say, as Rease leads me over to a rock bench. I try to sit down gracefully, but awkwardly collapse the last few inches into the seat. "We didn't message because the whole thing happened in like a minute. By the time either of us could've sent anything, it was already over, and we didn't want to worry you," I explain to the three.

  "But what happened?" presses Caz. His keeps glancing between my eyes and my leg, his jaw tight and his eyebrows impressively furrowed. "A shit ton of skates is what happened," says Rease, drawing their attention. I nod my assent. "Yeah, pretty much," I say, causing everyone's attention to swing back towards me. "We'd mapped a few tunnels, found a few dead ends caves and collapsed portions, that sort of thing. Then we ran into this one cavern. The tunnel led into it, but it was 15 feet off the ground, so you needed to climb down to get the 'floor'," I explain with air quotes. "So we spent a few minutes in the tunnel, trying to see what we could see, but it seemed empty. So then we drew lots on who'd actually climb down," I tell the three. Rease gives me a glance, but I don't react to it at all. It's a minor lie, but I figure it's better to consider my injury dumb luck, rather than having them place blame on Rease for what was effectively a freak accident. "So yeah, I ended up climbing down first. That's when they swarmed."

  "Yeah, at first, there was like eight of 'em. But then we popped a few, and then more rolled around the corner. It was like every damn skate on the planet decided to swing by; they just wouldn't stop coming," says Rease emphatically. "I tried to cover Annie as she climbed back up, but they didn't seem to care that I was tearing them to shreds. She got hit right as she got near the top. I pulled her over the edge, pulled out the spike, and hit her with some clotra." Ella's brows furrow, clear confusion in her expression. "Eight skates?" she asks, putting emphasis on the number. "At first," I tell her. "Maybe seven or nine, and then there was the second group that rolled up."

  "Skates don't normally group up more than four at a time," she says slowly. "They're very territorial. To see that many in one cave like that... well, it's really odd behavior." Her expression is thoughtful, as though trying to recall what info she can from her late night research session. Rease scoffs. "Yeah, well, you should tell them that," he says. I nod in agreement. "Yeah, they didn't seem to care about anything except me down there. It was like, the second I hit the sand, they came running," I explain. "Maybe they're running from the Grineer," Ko-lee offers. "If they got pushed down the tunnels, that ledge would've forced them all together." I can't quite parse her expression, but it almost seems like she's happy about that.

  "Yeah, well, next time I'm in the neighborhood, I'll ask them," I respond cheekily. "What about you guys? Was it as dramatic as mine and Rease's adventure?" Ko-lee wobbles her head back and forth in a "so-so" motion. "Lots of dead ends, same as you. Also, more ruins. We spent most of our time exploring those before we turned back around," she explains. "Hmm. Anything interesting? What did it look like?" I ask. The ruins we had were neat, but small, and it had only taken me an hour to memorize every nook and cranny of the space. The most interesting thing are the carvings dotted here and there, but I'm unsure if they're some sort of pictogram language, or just the equivalent of Martian graffiti.

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  "There was one place," says Caz, his fingers moving. "I think it was a place of worship, or something along those lines. I took some notes, and snapped a few pictures," he says, right as a I receive a notification. My attention shifts to the icon in the corner of my vision, and a few thumb swipes bring a number of images to the forefront. "Mostly the layout gives that impression," he explains, as I jump between pictures. "Otherwise, pretty much the same as this one; lots of dust, a bit of metal, and basically nothing else. A lot more carvings, though," he says, as my eyes land on one set of pictograms. I zoom in, and I can feel my brows furrow as I look at the figure.

  "I mean... maybe I'm crazy, but that kind of looks like Inaros..." I think, as I stare at the picture. "Is this just me seeing what I want to see? Pareidolia, or something?" My eyes scan what might or might not be Martian script, and I try to deduce some sort of meaning from them. "You didn't happen to find some jars while you were there? Like, wrapped in cloth... maybe a glowing symbol on them or something...?" I ask. There's no response, and I pull my attention away from the pictures, finding nothing but puzzled expressions from the others. "Uhm, never mind," I say, waving them off. "So, what's the plan then? Keep exploring the ruins? Try to find the front door? Or are we going to fight our way through the skates to see if there's something in that direction?" I ask.

  "Go gung ho on them," Rease says, nodding. I feel a smile form on my face, but I do my best to prevent it from pulling my attention. "Maybe," says Caz. "It's clear that they were running from something, but I don't know how we'd bring the fight to them without putting ourselves in a tight spot. You said they didn't come running until you touched the sand?" he asks me. I respond with a nod. "So maybe we could drag the cart down the hall, and toss that down onto the sand to draw them out. The lifter panels should displace the sand at least a bit. Maybe they'd think it was footsteps," he muses. "We don't know if there's anything down there though," Ella points out. "I am sort of interested in why the skates were acting like that, but we could end up using a lot of resources for no reason. The ruins would be easier to explore; we could even move our base further in and camp out in one of those ruins so we don't have to make the trek back and forth."

  "We could end up using a lot of resources explore the ruins as well. We don't know if there's anything in either location," counters Ko-lee. "But we do have a count of supplies now, and we could-" Caz cuts her off. "We're not using the Talons to excavate the tunnel," he says. "We've already been over this." I look between the pair of them. "Hold on, I haven't been over this? What're you guys talking about," I ask. Caz gives a tiny sigh, and gestures for Ko-lee to speak. "I was thinking we could use the Talons to excavate the original tunnel, and bait the Grineer towards us. They'd be in a kill box, and we could trap the area with explosives." She seems confident in the idea, almost excited.

  "They'd have to be suicidal idiots to push into a tunnel after we used enough explosives to blow a hole in the rubble," Rease points out. "They are idiots," Ko-lee responds, a frown on her face. "Suicidal idiots," Rease reiterates. "We'd just end up in a standoff." There's something hidden under the word "standoff", and my imagination briefly runs away with what sort of standoff's Rease might've run into back in his smuggling days, before I refocus on the discussion. "The ruins are more likely to have an exit attached to them," Ella says, obviously attempting to drive attention back to her idea. "If we-"

  Our conversation is halted by a low, rumbling growl echoing through the ruins. There's a pause, and more than one set of hands moves closer to their weapons. Nearly 30 seconds go by, before anyone feels comfortable enough to speak. "Maybe we should just have the lakotay bore a tunnel out for us," jokes Ella. There's a round of chuckles, and it's enough to lighten the atmosphere for the rest of us. "Yeah, and it'll eat the Grineer along the way," continues Rease, a goofy smile on his face. "Well, if any of you know how to speak spider worm, I'm all for it," I say, leaning into the bit. "Oh, yeah, I'm fluent," says Rease, before letting out a rumbling belch.

  There's laughter from me and Caz, and a smile from Ko-lee. Ella scrunches her nose, but it's clearly an over exaggeration for the sake of humor. Rease just shrugs nonchalantly. "Yeah, that's 'come on over' in lakotish, although my accent needs work." The image of one of us summoning a lakotay is followed by one of us leading it with a rope, followed by another one where we're corralling it like a sheep dog. I sit straight up, as though hit by electricity. "Could we?" I mutter. "What?" asks Ko-lee, a curious look on her face. "Could we? Could we actually?" I repeat, this time for the rest of the squad. "Could we... get the lakotay to bore a tunnel out for us?" Caz repeats, slowly. Rease gives me a look of bemusement, but Ko-lee looks thoughtful.

  "Yeah? Sarg-Sarge said that they move towards rumbling sounds, but away from impact sounds. Obviously we don't have the tech to make a loud rumble to draw it towards us, but if we could get around it somehow..." I say, getting more and more excited. "You mean with the Talons," Ko-lee clarifies. I nod excitedly. "Yeah! We could corral it where we want to go! Like a sheep dog!" I explain. There's a few confused glances at my simile, but I press on regardless. "I mean, obviously, we'd need to find a lakotay, and get behind it... but besides that," I say. "Oh, sure, besides that minor issue," says Rease, giving me a bemused grin. "Did you have one in mind?"

  "Uhm..." says Ella, drawing our attention. I trace her gaze towards the tunnels; specifically, the tunnel that me and Rease had come from. "Maybe the skates weren't running from the Grineer?" she offers cautiously. By this point, any exhaustion I had from the trek over is entirely gone, my body flooded with endorphins and adrenaline at the idea. "Let's... take a break for now," says Caz, killing my momentum. "We've been moving since we woke, but we can't run at 100% all day. Even if we do end up exploring those caves, that won't be until at least tomorrow." He tells the squad.

  "And that's if we explore that cave, over moving into the ruins. And I'm not saying that we're going to try to corral the lakotay, even if we do end up in the cave," he continues, his eyes on my eager expression. He rolls his eyes at me, just a bit. "Whatever we end up deciding to do, it'll be when we're a little fresher." He sighs, and it's like I can see the weight of leadership fall off his shoulders. His gaze shifts towards the supplies, then slides back to us, as a vulpine grin forms on his face. "I don't know about you guys... but I could use a drink."