Table of Contents https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/225386550/0/0 • • • "Uuuuugh!" Nat groans, dramatically falling down onto her back in the dirt, "I'm soooo tired! I can't move..." "You can move just fine," Quintel says. "No," Nat disagrees, "I definitely can't." "You barely did anything!" Quintel chides. The rest of us gather around them. We're in an old courtyard, surrounded by the dilapidated ruins of an old city. The remains of a chapel stand behind us. "Maybe you'd have done better if you'd spent as much time fighting as you'd spent messing with Quintel," Ilya admonishes. "Hey, its Crimson Days!" Nat argues amicably, "I get to do all the huggin' and lovin' I want today!" "I can't fight off you AND them at the same time!" Quintel reproves. "It was pretty fun to watch, though," Null laughs, turning to those of us who had been watching, "What did you guys think?" "That was one of the most pathetic fights I've ever seen," Yvan criticizes flatly. "I thought it was alright," Welkine shrugs. "How 'bout you, Blanc?" Null asks. "I had almost as much fun watching as you did playing," Blanc compliments. "Wait, why'd you ask Blanc and not Keis?" Quintel inquires. "Duh," Nat chaffs, standing up, "It's 'cause Blanc does all the talking for Keis." "Exactly," Null verifies. "An excellent point," Ilya concurs. "Like how I talk for Yvan," Paris joins in, flashing into existence, "When he needs to be nice." "True," Yvan grunts. "How come we don't do any talking?" Welkine's Ghost grills, transmatting in front of him. "You don't ask us what we think of things," Quintel's Ghost adds. Within seconds, all the other Ghosts are buzzing around the group, voicing their complaints. "I just thought you were all introverted or something," Welkine replies weakly. "SHUT IT!" Yvan barks, resulting in immediate silence. "Thanks, Yvan," Null pats his shoulder. "Anything to keep these guttersnipes from indelibly railing on every insignificant thought that pops into their infinitesimally small cerebral hemispheres..." Yvan grouches, trailing off into unintelligible rumbles. "You know, you've got quite a vocabulary," Null observes. "It makes insulting people more fun," Yvan dismisses. "Anyway," Null continues, rubbing his hands together, "We can't all sit here talking or Shaxx won't let us finish. So, lets get to it." He pulls out the four shorter chopsticks, concealing the ends with a hand and mixing them, and directs, "Yvan, Keis, and Welkine still haven't gone, so you all get to pick from these first." Welkine reaches over and slides out a stick. Yvan grabs the next one, and they compare. They're the same length, and Yvan curses under his breath. "Looks like we're a team," Welkine observes. Yvan takes his chopstick, holds it with his, and snaps them in half. "That was unnecessary," Null sighs as Yvan tosses away the broken pieces. "Good thing we don't need 'em anymore," Quintel exhales. Null hands me one of the last two, then pulls out three uncut sticks and mixes the other in with them. "Let's see who gets to be Keis's partner," he says, presenting them to everyone else. Nat eagerly snatches one, letting out a disappointed huff when she sees that it's uncut. Ilya tries next and pulls out the cut stick. "Congratulations, Ilya," Null commends, collecting everyone's chopsticks and putting them away, "Yvan and Welkine against Ilya and Keis. Everyone else, let's clear out so they can get started. Have fun." With that, his Ghost transmats him away. After a moment, I dissolve in a blue haze, rematerializing on a rundown street. Ilya appears next to me, giving herself a shake and complaining, "I'm never gonna get used to that." "It's efficient," Hae counters. Ilya hugs herself, rubbing her upper arms, and shivers, "It just doesn't feel right." Shaxx's booming voice cuts in on the comms and announces, "Begin, Guardians." Ilya hefts her auto rifle and briskly strides down the road and I follow her, readying my hand cannon. We come to a point where another road crosses our path, and Ilya stops. A large vehicle sits in disrepair in the road. "They might try sniping us here," she warns, "We'll make a dash for that truck." She sprints around the corner, and I run after her. We make it to the truck without incident and take cover behind it. "Now," Ilya plans, "If we can-" Red flashes on my radar, indicating that someone is on the other side of the truck. Ilya points to one side of the truck, signaling for me to go around, then turns and moves to the other side. I creep to the edge, then jump out towards the wall of a building. Welkine is crouched behind a broad street sign. He unleashes a spray of bullets, and I press myself against the wall to avoid them. Another burst sounds from Ilya's side of the truck, and Welkine collapses. Ilya steps into the open, searching for Yvan while shifting towards Welkine's body. When she reaches the sign, Yvan leaps over a small cement fence behind it, wreathed in a fiery red glow. He kicks Ilya down, landing gracefully and aiming his scout rifle at her head. I raise my weapon and shoot him first. He recoils and clutches his chest, and I fire again. The red glow vanishes and his body crumples. "Nice save, Keis," Ilya thanks, standing up. • • • "Yeah, they're up there," Ilya whispers, "Quietly." She sneaks up the pile of rubble, carefully avoiding loose stones. I imitate her movements, and we make our way towards the broken doorway at the top. Once we're close, we hear the voices of our opponents. "What if they're over there?" Welkine questions. "Then I would've seen them, you over-glorified brick," Yvan lashes, "They can't just cross through the open. They'd have snuck around the other side." "...So why are we doing this?" Welkine asks. "Because-" Yvan begins, but seems to realize something and cuts off his sentence. We're already next to the door frame, and I can hear him shifting around as he barks, "Why aren't you watching our backs like I told you to?!" Ilya steps into the doorway and I slide behind her, taking in the view. Yvan is crouched with his sniper rifle held across his chest, and Welkine is sitting next to him, looking at us over his shoulder in surprise. "Hello boys," Ilya taunts, taking aim. Before anyone can do anything, Yvan let's his rifle slip lower, leveling the barrel at Welkine's face. The sound of the rifle firing cracks through the air, and Welkine's visor explodes in a shower of glass. By the time Welkine's body goes limp and starts to slump, Yvan is lunging at Ilya, once again glowing red. He bats her gun away and slashes at her with a knife. She leans back to avoid it, and he kicks her in the gut with a sharp thrust of his leg. She falls backwards and tumbles down the rocky slope. With her no longer between me and Yvan, I level my sights on him. He ducks the shot, moving quickly under the influence of the red glow. I swing my gun down at him, but he catches my wrist and points it away. His knife flashes up at my throat, but I grab his forearm. Yvan drops to my feet, pulling down on me. When I don't budge, he grunts, "Really Keis? I'm on a Light overdose and can't even flip you over. How does that work?" "I-" I start to reply. "Don't start chatting," he interrupts, "We're fighting." He swings his leg into my thigh, yanking on my arms again to pull himself up. I take a large stride forwards and slam him against the crumbling wall. He repeatedly kicks at my legs, but I ignore it and slowly force my arm towards him, bringing my hand cannon to his helmet. He doesn't let go of my wrist, trying to keep the weapon away from him, but he only slows me down. "Traveler, Keis," he chuckles as the end of the barrel touches his helmet, "I'm not some wuss like Welkine, and I know what any good Warlock can do. Quit playin' around with that gun and disintegrate me already." I pause a moment, then acknowledge his request with a nod and use the Void. He disintegrates into a cloud of purple whisps. "Ugh..." Ilya groans, and I look down to see her lying against the wall at the base of the rubble heap. "Couldn't have been a grassy hill?" She mutters, pushing herself up weakly, "I feel like I just got punched by every Cabal that ever lived at once." She gets to her knees and slumps on the wall, then adds, "Really big, ugly, angry Cabal." She tries to stand, but falls back to a knee and moans, "REALLY ugly Cabal... Let's get to the chapel before those two come back." • • •