Edward, Gale, and Haxx finally tracked down the Fallen stirring trouble. They were circling the green ketch, which was hovering over the Uncharted jungles of the southern hemisphere. "There she is... Tighten formation, on me!" yelled Edward as he banked left, dodging antiaircraft turrets on the ketch hull. Gale and Haxx followed Edward as he flew high above the ketch then nose diving back down. The three ships flew down past the bridge, trying to agitate whatever Fallen that was captain of the vessel. Edward watched as hundreds of skiffs were launching. "They're here! Break formation!" "I got a skiff on my six! Can't lose it!" yelled Haxx. "I'm on it!" Edward directed his star fighter towards his endangered friend. A loud beeping echoed in his cabin. Edward launched four tracking missiles at the green colored skiff. The missiles followed the skiff's engines, quickly catching up! BANG!! A silent fireball erupted behind Haxx. "There you go, bud!" Gale made a pass, shooting the bridge trying to scare the Fallen. She had no idea who they were facing. "Baron, they are attempting to take out the command, leaving the rest vulnerable! Should we retreat into the throne room?" asked Lokir. "No! Let's give them a fight! Draw.. them.. in!" snapped Braxis watching the battle ensue. He crossed his lower arms and propped his upper arms on his chair. "Their forward deflector shields are too strong for our guns! We aren't touching the ketch with it up!" yelled Gale after firing four rockets into the shields. "One second.... bogie down!" Edward turned to the ketch. "Now, let's see." Edward flew towards the hanger. A large disc sat beside it. He flew towards it, waiting for his missiles to lock on. "Ed!" Gale screamed through the comms. Edward quickly looked out his left cockpit window. One torpedo, from the antiaircraft cannon, hit the starfighter, and Edward's engines were engulfed in flames! "Ahhh!" Edward's starfighter barrel rolled out of control and smashed through the hanger bay. With one ship down, hundreds of more skiffs launched to engage the remaining Guardians. "Haxx, come on! We can out maneuver these bas****s and get Ed!!" Gale turned towards the hanger smothered in flames. "Gale, no! We need to retreat! We can't help Edward if we are dead!" For a moment, there was no reply. Soon, Gale's ship turned away and disappeared. "I will try to talk to him..." continued Haxx. "We hit one, Baron. Crashed in hanger J-4 3." said Lokir, kneeling. "Good! Bring the slime to me!" Braxis clapped his hands together. A lash of flames struck Edward's neck, bringing him out of his daze. "Edward! Are you okay?!" asked Haxx over his headset. "Y-y-yeah, I think." Edward looked out his shattered cockpit window. Dregs frantically ran around putting out fires and shanks made repairs to equipment. But one group stood out. A captain wielding two shock blades was leading a pack of vandals to his crashed ship. "Guys, I am going radio silent. If you hear nothing from me in forty-eight hours..." Edward swallowed. "...It was an honor serving with you two." "Ed, don't say things li-" Edward muted his headset. "I'm sorry, Gale." Edward spoke to himself as he activated his invisibility. The captain shoved his blade through the window and lifted up the cockpit. No one was inside. The captain leaned in for a closer look, but reeled back as a flame lashed out. Once again, the captain took a closer look. It exhaled, but oddly, it's breath collected on a nonexistent object. The captain realized what was wrong and tried to move back, but Edward stabbed his knife through the captain's helmet before it could do anything. The vandals escorting the captain jumped back in terror. They took pot shots but the hunter double jumped around and fired five shots from his trusty scout rifle, five vandals died. Edward snuck through the ketch in shadow. "Kelly, are Haxx and Gale still out there?" "I'm afraid not. The Fallen had them outmatched." Kelly expanded her shell to get a better signal. "Well, let's do something worth while..." "Psst, two captains heading this way!" Kelly spoke in whispers. "S***, okay." Edward activated his invisibility once again, and waited for the Fallen to pass. "They're not moving fast enough. My invisibility is about to drop!" The Fallen chatter grew louder, louder, louder. Edward's invisibility dropped, and his blue and white armor stood out against the rusted green wall. Edward cringed waiting for his fate. However, the voices waned. Edward opened his eyes, then looked around a crate. No one was there. His visor had fogged up from his heavy breathing. "Oh, what kind of bull s*** luck is that? Kelly, what are some major structures on ketches?" Edward slowed his breathing. "Engines, standard and warp, the hanger, and the shield generator." Kelly looked through her Fallen database. "Why?..." "Alright. Escape pods are close to the hanger, so I'll save that for last." Edward slowly snuck through the hallways. After four hours of avoiding danger, he reached the center of the ship, where the generator waited. The power sparking filled the somber room with bright lights. Edward tied the wires of small, but deadly, bombs together as he stuck them to the walls of the room. After placing a bomb every six feet, he walked back to the door. "That about does it." Edward stopped, crossed his arms, and nodded at his handy work. "Looks good, Daddy. I can't wait to watch this from space!" exclaimed Kelly. "Neither can I." Edward commented. Edward headed for the engines room at the back of the ship, luckily he was halfway there. Once Edward found the fuel cells, he pulled out a detonator. "Are we safe, Kelly?" "Yes! Flip the switch." Kelly flew around in circles. Edward flipped up the cover, then pushed the button. For five seconds, there was nothing, then BANG! The sound of the explosion echoed throughout the ship before the vacuum of space rendered it silent. Edward stumbled from the Shockwave, but he kept his footing. Alarms sounded in every room! Shank repair teams rushed to repair the damage. "Alright, phase two." Edward did the same thing, he placed bombs all over the fuel cells. "Kelly, now I need you to retrace my steps to get me back to the hanger." "Chart plotted. Go left." Kelly led the way. The hanger wasn't that far away, but when the airlock opened, and thousands of Fallen were boarding skiffs. "...hmm..." Edward simply grunted. "The escape pods are on the other side of the room!" Kelly highlighted a door on the opposite side of the hanger. Edward thought for a second, then snapped his fingers, "I'll blink over there!" "Wait, the bombs." Kelly spun her shell in excitement. Edward smiled. "Right." he detonated the bombs. Once again the ship shook violently, but this time the ship was being pulled into Venus' atmosphere. Everything in the hanger began sliding to the back of the room. "Here's my chance!" Edward bolted for the escape pods. He blinked around boxes that were about to hit him and he made it across safely. Kelly opened an airlock for the first available escape pod. Edward climbed in and plotted a course for Earth. "So, Kelly, do you still have the gift?" asked Edward. "Yes I do." Kelly spawned a small box and placed it in Edward's hand. Edward looked at the box, then to Kelly. "Thank you." As Edward sat down for launch, he twitched and blinked repeatedly. He suddenly felt empty inside. Edward turned around to see Kelly stabbed by Braxis! Her last bit of Light faded. "KELLY!!" Edward yanked off his dog tags and tossed them in the seat! He jumped out of the pod and launched it. The pod left the ketch just before the massivr ship entered the upper atmosphere. The ship was engulfed in flames from the friction of the thick atmosphere. Edward tackled Braxis, pushing him into the hanger! The Baron was agile, but so was the Guardian. Edward's and Braxis' blades clashed time and time again! Both swordsman were lashing powerful swings. Edward held one of Braxis' blades with his own, but Braxis swung sideways with his free sword. Edward caught Braxis' wrist and slowly tightened his grip. Braxis kicked Edward away and repeatedly swiveled his wrist. Edward stood and flared up in lightning! Edward swung his knife in midair sending a shockwave of lightning to Braxis. The surge of energy caused the Fallen's muscles to tense up and bring down his shields. "THIS IS FOR KELLY!!!" Edward jumped in the air and blinked towards Braxis. When he appeared through the rip in space, his knife was in Braxis' chest. Edward ripped his knife out of Braxis, the hook on it tearing out more flesh. Braxis' dead corpse fell backwards and slid to the wall. Edward took his scout rifle and picked off the remaining vandals that surrounded him. After placing the weapon on his back, Edward looked out of the hanger force field as the jungle canopy came into view. "At least I'll go out in a blaze of glory..." Edward spoke to himself as the ketch collided with the ground.