As Ana Bray watched the Guardian's Sparrow rocket across Hellas Basin for the last time, she saw a confidant who had believed in her when no one else would. That faith, Zavala had reminded her, was a bond with more power than all the Warmind weapons in the system. It was a promise to go on—an agreement that there was still a future. Jinju had called it "reverse salvage." She knew a thing or two about building something from the wreckage of their past.

The building was nearly empty. She had sent as much tech to the Tower as they could handle: an entire freight vessel's worth, packed to bursting.

She turned to the large glass window overlooking silent Warsat cannons. There were no Cabal. The death buried beneath Mars had quieted. Valkyrie subroutines that could be maintained remotely remained active, just in case.

Jinju ran final checks on the jumpship. A dark Pyramid loomed overhead. An experimental Exo chassis was secured in the ship's cargo hold. One foot in front of the other.