[b]Wow, it's about time I posted this right? Haha, anyways, yeah yeah, it's here, and another is on the way. Enjoy. If you missed a chapter, her's the index: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/128755126/0/0 [/b] [u]Chapter 14: [i]The Beginning of The End (part 1)[/i][/u] Rorschach awoke to the claps of thunder. His four eyes blinked rapidly, and he rose from the cave floor, his body sore from the unforgiving rock. Running a hand through his tall Mohawk, he grabbed his shock pistol from a shelf in the cave. Looking around, he saw that everyone was still asleep. He then walked groggily to the mouth of the cave, and stepped outside as a clap of thunder sounded off above him. He looked up and felt the slight sting of the acid that rained down from clouds of sulfur. He walked farther out into the open area of the Ember Caves. Contemplating what he should do, he decided to pay a visit to Regran. Reaching his teammates grave, Rorschach stared at it. Regran's Wire Rifle jutted out of the mound of dirt, with his banners flowing in the eastern wind. Holstering his sidearm, Rorschach reached out and glossed over the House symbol in his claws with a sigh. "I almost wish I was in the ground instead, friend, so you could still fight alongside your brethren." he clicked lowly. The Dreg was too caught up in his thoughts to hear the soft footsteps behind him. He jumped when he felt the pressure of a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Taliks staring at the grave as well. "Taliks? What are you doing out here?" She looked down at him and sighed, "I couldn't sleep...guessing you couldn't either?" He nodded in response. "I've been having trouble sleeping lately. I didn't think war would be like this, Taliks, and it's taking it's toll." He stood up and looked at his friend. "I'm tired of all this fighting, I just want it to be over." She looked at him, her four eyes seemed to glow, "I feel the same way, Rorschach, but we have to defend our honor...for him, and everyone else who's died fighting. This won't be over for a while, and I feel that's it's just the beginning." "The beginning of the end." he clicked solemnly, and walked farther out. "How do you think Prelik is doing?" he asked after a pause. Taliks perked up at the name of their former Captain. "Prelik? Well, I'm sure he's better off than we are, he's a Kell's Guard you know?" "Yeah I know, but still, I kinda miss him. He made me feel like I wasn't [i]just[/i] a Dreg, that I could be something...more." Rorschach looked down at his two arms with shame. Taliks walked forward and grabbed Rorschach's hand in her own, "The number of arms we have doesn't make us any less than what we are." She placed her other hand on her heart, "It's the strength that we have inside....don't forget that." With that, she turned and began walking back to the cave. "C'mon," she called out, "let's head back before the storm gets worse." Another thunder clap rang out, as if on cue. Rorschach thought about what she had said and muttered to himself. He then followed his friend back to the cave. He walked in, but looked back quickly. He thought he saw a flash of blue light in another cave, and listened closely. A familiar voice was whispering to seemingly nothing, but then he heard something talk back. [i]What is that?[/i] he thought. He tried listening to it again but there was nothing. Blaming it on his insomnia, he turned and walked into the cave, where everyone was still sleeping. He lay down in his spot on the hard floor and without realizing it, he fell into a deep sleep, dreaming about fire and screams. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [b][i]BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM[/i][/b] the rapid succession of blasts woke Rorschach with a start. He opened his eyes to Tizak leaning over him. "RORSCHACH! C'mon Dreg, get up, we're under attack!" That woke Rorschach up. Standing quickly, he unholstered his shock pistol and looked around. Everyone was gone. "Taliks!? Greevis!?" he shouted, but he got no response. "Tizak, what's going on!!?" he shouted, but the gunfire drowned him out. Reaching the mouth of the cave, he came to a halt. The cave shook and dust fell in heaps as another barrage hit their target. He recognized the sound all to well, along with the roars of angry Fallen. Anxiously, he followed Tizak outside of the cave. The Dreg couldn't believe what lay before him. Complete chaos consumed his vision. Fallen lay dead on the ground, both of Winter and Ash descent. In the distant canyon, A Winter walker fired barrages of devastating shots at a pinned down group of Ash. Ventryx and Maddox were both fighting an abnormally large Captain on the large rock that jutted from the planet. It looked like they were losing. The Ember Caves had become a battlefield. "No, no no, no, this can't be happening," he muttered to himself. He looked for Tizak, but the Vandal was nowhere in sight. Rorschach turned to find his friends, but was knocked back by a Winter Vandal that had appeared out of nowhere. It kicked him in the chest and sent him sprawling. The impact from the ground and knocked the wind out of the Dreg. He barely had time to recover before the Vandal lunged at him, it's swords aimed for his chest. Rorschach rolled out of the way just in time, and drove his own Shock Dagger into the Vandal's chest, twisting it to inflict even more pain. He grunted as he pulled the dagger out of the Vandal's flesh. Turning, he saw a Skiff come down in flames, exploding meters away from him. Watching in horror, he stood helpless as Vandals poured out of it. They were all on screaming and on fire. Rorschach struggled to turn away and scan the terrain, but he did it anyways. After frantically searching, he located where his friends were. Running to them, he saw the Walker turn to the feeble rock they were cowered behind. The Dreg's mind went into autopilot, he searched for cover and sprinted to a rock, diving behind it regain his senses. He heard the loud whir of the Walker's arc cannon and peeked above his cover. He saw the cannon fire blasts of arc energy at his friends, the explosions knocking them to the ground. Seeing only one solution, Rorschach mustered all the courage he had. Cursing as he did so, he ran into the open, hoping to catch the machine's attention. As he shot the Walker, he heard Taliks scream his name, but dismissed it. "Taliks! Greevis! Run to the Command Room...GO!" he shouted to them. A wire rifle shot whizzed past his ear, but he remained unflinching. The diversion was successful but the tank turned its cannon quicker than Rorschach anticipated and began charging up its solar missile. Rorschach's eyes went wide, and turned and ran but was too slow. The howl of the missile pierced his ears and the impact sent him flying into the side of a rock. Propped against the rock, blood oozed down the side of Rorschach's face. He struggled to open his eyes, but all he saw were the blurry silhouettes of Fallen soldiers fighting. One of them lunged towards him, but the other pulled it back and ran its blade into its chest. They pushed the body to the ground and rushed towards Rorschach, kneeling. The stunned Dreg thought it was Greevis, but he couldn't make out the features. The Vandal spoke to him, but he barely understood the words. Nodding and grunting, he felt himself being carried away from the battlefield; on the shoulders of his savior. The last thing he saw was the blood from the dead, and the fires of the battlefield. [b]Whoo-ee, we got a double whammy this weekend folks, so stay tuned for Chapter 15, which will be here: [/b] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/152140387