[spoiler]This installment of Exotic History is provided by InvaderMAIR[/spoiler] "For the last time An, No you can't use it!" Borwin yelled at the dark figure of Anwell as their Ghosts hovered around, causing dancing lights to spin around the room. "Why not?!" She yelled back, holding the weapon close to her. "It looks like a standard issue Hakke scout..." "That just came out of a protected Vex vault!... and Hakke doesn't even make scouts!!" "Well this is what it would look like!" She gave a small gasp. "What if this is the only one every made? And the Vex wanted to keep it for themselves?..." "No!" "Come on! Please!?!" "For the last time!..." Borwin's voice trailed off as a loud screech ripped through the air. His hand immediately went for his weapon. "Paulie?" Paulie floated over and scanned the area. "I think you... Yep you woke them up..." "The Hive?!" Chirp yelled across the room. "Worse... E.T.A. maybe a couple seconds." Borwin got back to back with Anwell. "We will discuss this later..." Anwell reloaded the rifle she was holding. "Yes dear." "D***it An!..." Clouds of black smoke bellowed from nowhere as sparks ran across the air like live wires. Several red and white lights slowly faded into existence as Goblins and Minotaurs landed with a boom and began to attack. Borwin drew his pulse rifle and focused on thinning the heard. "Chuck grenades and get those Minotaurs unshielded!" Anwell tossed a grenade and blinked to the top of a pylon, getting some range to use the rifle. She pulled the trigger quickly and the gun silently flared to life, purple energy flaring to life and gently flowing along the barrel of the gun like thin fabric. Every head shot she made caused the Vex to explode in a torrent of purplish black flames. "Paulie, keep an eye on that thing!" Borwin yelled as he shadestepped away from a fist. "So you don't want a light?" "I can see the Juice Boxes just fine!" He popped a smoke grenade and dashed out of the poisonous cloud. "But I make a REALLY great light I'm just sayin..." "PAULIE!!" "FINE! Geez! Spoil sport! Chirp! Disco mode!" "YAY!!!" Chirp, who was spotting for Anwell, flew towards the center of the room and expanded, shedding faint light towards the edge of the room, her shell blocking the light as it spun rapidly, leaving a strobe effect. "I love this thing!!" Anwell said, reloading the gun. The purple ribbons of Void that flowed down the barrel suddenly grew darker and more rapidly as the muzzle began to flare with purple fire. "It even does Void damage!" She popped a Minotaur shield in a matter of seconds and killed it. "For the last time..." Borwin wrenched a core from a Goblin's torso. "Don't use it!!" "Its seems perfectly fine." Paulie commented, scanning the weapon. "It just has a strong connection to the Void, much like a fusion core or a Defender. Though there is something that worries me..." "What?!" Another screech interrupted the combat as three Hydras spawned, surrounding them. "Are you kidding me?! Anwell!" Borwin quickly shot a tether between the crowd, setting it to Blood Bond. Anwell chucked a Nova Bomb at one and it violently exploded into shards of evaporating mist. The central anchor of the Shadowshot bulged with the sudden burst of energy and sent the energy down the other tethers, causing the other Hydras to explode and all other Goblins around them. "Yea!" She squealed happily. Borwin quickly scooped up some Orbs and dashed to the entrance, shouting over his shoulder. "Come on! Before more come!" He shadestepped out of the way of a Minotaur blast and continued running. He heard the sound of Blink several times as Anwell tried to keep up as she chucked grenades as cover fire. As the corridor turned to pitch black, all of the Vex structures no longer glowing the usual faint blue, Paulie materialized by Borwin's head and became a beacon of light. He turned the corner back the way they came. He ran several meters before slowly coming to a stop. The corridor continued to utter blackness, despite the entrance supposedly being here. He blinked and looked around him. "Paulie?..." Paulie bulked in size for a split second to give a scan of the room. "Huh... I can sense absolutely nothing... We are in utter darkness, in more ways than one of course." "S***... Comms?" "Down." "Ammo?" "Thankfully I refilled while you were running." "Vault access?" "No... I can't access my favorite shell..." Paulie slowly tilted downward in sadness." "Well what about Anwell?" Paulie fell silent in concentration as he gently fluttered. "Short range comms are down... as is radar, and some other functions are steadily draining power." "D***it!" Borwin spun around and looked back the way they came. "Alright, just put our suit into power save mode. Only use flash if we need and I want a ping every 5 seconds. Starting... now." Paulie pinged as he shut off his light. The walls slowly became detailed on Browin's HUD for a split second as the wave of scanning energy flowed over the surface and vanished into darkness. Borwin slowly walked forward, swapping his pulse with his back up hand cannon and his sniper with a fusion he had on hand. He continously watched ahead, waiting to see if something was coming as each scan vanished about 3 meters infront of him. He walked for a few paces before Paulie spoke up. "Footsteps, not very heavy, so not Vex. Closing in fast." Borwin held up his cannon. "Anwell?" Silence as the footsteps grew closer. "Anwell?!" "Borwin?!" A wave or relief washed over him as he rushed forward. "Anwell!!" A scan revealed a female figure right infront of him before he could stop. The two rammed into each other and collapsed in a pile on the ground. Borwin groaned as a set of arms constricted around him. "What happened?!... We lost communication and you dashed on head, Chirp couldn't sense you!.." "Idk... He rested his helmet gently against hers with a clack as he brought them both up to a sitting position. "Seems they are jamming us with Darkness..." "This is really strange... and frightening..." Her voice quivered as she shook against him. He gave a small sigh as he held her close. "It's alright... We need to keep it cool... Just get ready to move..." She sniffled. "Ok..." She let go of him and pulled away, picking up something off the ground. "What is that?" "My rifle..." "Anwell, that better..." Sounds echoed down the hallway. Chirp piped up. "That sounded spoopily close..." "Let's get moving." Borwin quickly stood up and grabbed Anwell's arm and dragged her in the opposite direction. The two gave a quick pace as they went further into the darkness of the cavern. https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/208236844/0/0 link to chapter 1 https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/173504379/0/0/1 link to Touch of Nihil