"Pfff, we don't need to sneak," I assured her, bracing myself in preparation to charge over the crest of the hill. "Drew, wait!" Sally ordered, a bit of her inner assertiveness finally returning. I obeyed and waited for her to continue. "At least loop around so that we're not caught between dozens of Cabal, and take out those closest around the ship," she suggested, realizing that I wouldn't be convinced to actually try sneaking. Little did I know, she actually figured that I wouldn't even know how to sneak; she made the correct assumption. "Hmmmm," I pondered, "Well, I'll still get to hit stuff, soooo, alright." Sally sighed with relief as I got up and started walking around the base of the dune, shielded from the Cabal's view. The dune was pushed up against one of the old buildings, engulfing a large amount of it in sand, but not quite covering enough to block a doorway into the ruins. "Oh Drew, before you go in," Sally began, and I stopped to listen to her before entering, "I managed to pick up a weapon earlier for when I found you. Hold out your hands." I held my hands out flat in front of me, and in a flash just like with Sally's appearances, and gun materialized in my hands. It was a thick and sturdy shotgun, made with pump-action fire and bearing a dull yellow and grey paint job. For some reason the lack of bright color lessened my liking of the gun, but as my fingers closed around the handle and grip of the barrel, an instant felling of rightness and power flooded into me. With a quick flick as if I had used the gun many times before, I opened the shotgun's cartridge to make sure it was loaded and closed it with equal deftness as I saw the shells already inside. "Me gusta," I chuckled with glee as I cocked the shotgun and began moving forward, keeping my new weapon raised. "Great, and here's your helmet," Sally said as a metal helm appeared over my head, my vision unhindered by the visor that covered my face. "Cool. What's all this stuff in the corners of my eyes?" I questioned, referring to the images appearing on the inside of my visor. "Vitals, shield energy, motion scanner, stuff like that," Sally listed. "Sweet," I responded. The inside of the building was no less torn apart than the outside, and the corrosion of metal and decay of other material was apparent. And of course, everything was covered in layers of sand and dust. "They should really get a maid to dust all this off," I observed. Most of the rooms would have several screens hung on walls or attached to computer desks, some of which still struggled to show the images they had last been commanded to display, but unable to manage more than short glimpses. I went through whichever hallways and rooms lead me in the general direction of where the Harvester was parked, the speech of Cabal growing more common but always seeming to come from a different room or outside of the building. Finally, I turned a corner into yet another hallway to find a couple of the Cabal standing at the opposite end. "Those are Cabal Legionaries," Sally told me as the two aliens noticed me and began walking towards me, her voice shaking, "Basic unit of the Cabal military but capable of rather impressive accomplishments with their tactics." "What tactics?" I asked as one of the Legionaries raised its weapon and fired off a couple shots that I dodged promptly. "Slow advance," Sally stated simply. I held in a small laugh as I watched them continue forward at their slow walk, both of them firing now. "Oh that's priceless," I wiped an imaginary tear from my eye, "Can I kick their butts now?" "Please get rid of them," Sally cleared me to go. I barreled forward through the hallway, only a few of the Cabal's shots pinging off of my shield as I closed the distance between us. As I came up to the first I leapt up and planted a foot against its chest, then as it fell back with me on top of it I brought my shotgun to its face and pulled the trigger. The Legionary's helmet was blasted off with a spray of oily black liquid and shredded face chunks. Turning around to face the other, I saw it's arm raised to strike me and didn't even bother to raise my gun, for I wanted to see how tough these things really were. It's arm swung into me and I fell to my butt on the ground, a small "oomph" escaping me. Chuckling as I rose back to my feet, I dusted myself off and looked back up at the Legionary. Another blow was already swinging down at me, but this time I blocked it with my left arm and pulled back my right to return a hit. With a quick, sharp movement my fist slammed against its armor and sent it straight back into the wall, where it then slumped to the ground, unable to stand. "H-How...?" Sally stuttered. "You were right about the "slow" part," I laughed, walking up to the downed Legionary as it lulled its head back to look up at me. "Come on buddy, is that all you've got?" I asked as I grabbed the Legionary under the arms and hoisted it back up to its feet. It stood over a foot taller than me and was much broader, but the poor creature just tried stumbling away from me after I helped it up, fearing something smaller than it despite its training and discipline. "Aww, it thinks it can run," I crooned, then ran at the Legionary and swung my leg into its rear as hard as I could. The Legionary fell to my boot, no longer to rise at all if it even survived the flight several feet down the hallway's length. "Told you I'd kick their butts," I remarked smugly. "How did you do that?!" Sally asked, astounded, "They weigh eight hundred pounds! How did you take that punch like it was nothing?!" "Eight hundred pounds? Man, those guys need to lose some weight," I shook my head, "I just hit 'em, that's all." "Remarkable," Sally mumbled, "We need to keep moving. They probably heard that racket, so we should pick up the pace." "Let's do this!" I shouted, then sprinted out of the hallway and into the next room, where a fresh batch of Cabal waited for us. Coincidentally, I could see a door leading out into the light of day at the opposite end of the room, but several Cabal stood between us and our exit. A few were Legionaries like before, but a few others carried massive, thickly plated shields large enough to block their whole bodies. Only one different Cabal stood amongst the others, bearing thicker armor with gun attachments, and it was this one that waved its hand with a roar to signal its comrades to advance. "The ones with shields are Phalanxes, and the leader is a Centurion," Sally explained, fear once again seeping into her voice. "Let's get this party started," I said with a devilish grin, then charged once again through a splay of enemy fire. The first Legionary fell to a shell in its stomach, and the next to shells in its shoulder and side. A Phalanx was next in line, and braced its shield against the ground, holding one arm out to shoot around the shield at me. I closed the distance and grabbed the arm wielding its gun, yanking the Phalanx off balance and then knocking it down with a shell to the back. Another Legionary rushed me next, but was put down with a swift left hook. But as I turned from the fallen Legionary, all that I could see was a large body moving at me and a shield swinging around. I flew backwards, processing the fact that the blow really hadn't hurt at all, but had still somehow managed to send me flying. Then I focused on that word: flying. I was flying through the air! I didn't know where the words came from, but I began to sing as I flew. "I believe I can flyyyy-" my joyous solo was cut off as I collided with a wall. ______________________________ Link to Pt 2: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/221445585/0/0 Link to Pt 4: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/221445761/0/0 Link to ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0