Rest of the Story: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15ew1g89oxjEj5mZRFvv94Ht2Td6lVWkc-Lk7nwplUgg/edit# [b]Chapter 10[/b] Lacer felt his body re-enter the world, something he didn’t like to admit that he did often. His eyes were laid upon a wide open clearing, surrounded by impossibly tall trees. He rubbed his head. “Ugh. That fall must’ve been rough.” He looked around the vegetation, examining each trunk. “That Fallen couldn’t have survived that. We gotta catch up to Zahir.” He started for Zahir’s direction on his sparrow. As he met the edge of the clearing, a previously unseen tripmine blew his sparrow to bits. “What the hell?” He gasped as his back hit the earth. He looked around, noticing an array of previously unseen traps. A blur of movement rushed past the smoking chunks of Lacer’s sparrow, arming a new tripmine in the previous trap’s place. “Are you kiddin’ me? He’s still alive, but how?” Lacer asked himself, backing up to the center of the clearing and drawing his auto rifle. “You’ll pay, lightbearer, you’re gonna see Darvahk in hell!” Spekris yelled into the clearing from above. “I don’t know who Darvahk is, and I don’t care.” Lacer looked toward the sound and immediately began shooting at the upper halves of the trees around him, but to no avail. “It’s pointless! None o’ those shots are gonna hit me!” The Vandal was now in a dozen places at once, slipping between trees at a rate that Lacer could not keep up with. “There’s no way he's that fast.” Lacer grumbled, “but I’ll hit him eventually.” He hauled a machine gun to his arms and pulled the bolt. “Eat lead!” Solar rounds tore into bark, creating a flurry of brown and orange. Lacer aimed at every blur he could see, and stopped when he landed a shot. A Fallen fell from its perch, clutching a bullet hole in its chest. “I did it!” Lacer pumped his fist. “Wait... why are there still-“ he looked around the trees. The storm of movement that surrounded him had not faltered. “Of course. He’s not here alone.” He realized, watching multiple streaks of orange pass behind the falling Vandal. He looked down at his machine gun. Its holographic projection told him he only had 24 bullets left. “I’m not sure if I can even hitt another with this many bullets.” “Stop! He’s movin’!” Spekris called, and the Fallen ceased their movement. Each one drew a wire rifle. “What’s he doin’?” Spekris leaned up. The titan began to shoot at the tree trunks in front of him. Tripmines went off left and right. “Hey, hey, hey! Get ‘im!” Spekris ordered, prompting a hail of wire rifle shots toward the guardian. Lacer spread his arms out beside him, forming a fortress of void energy. The arc lines fizzled harmlessly on its hide. Lacer held his pointer finger up at the Fallen and continued to shred the trees in front of him. One final tripmine went off with his last bullet. “The audacity of- don’t let him get away!” Spekris roared. A Vandal to his side nodded, speeding toward the escapee. Lacer anticipated the move, disintegrating his attacker with a punch. “Don’t just stand there, go! All of you!” Spekris spat, landing on the clearing and rushing forward. “There we go.” Lacer chuckled, “All I had to do was get you to move in a straight line. The quickest path to me.” He turned around, letting loose a hail of rounds from his auto rifle. Spekris was caught head on, and the Eliksni stumbled back as the bullets stopped. “There. Now I’ll finish you, ya dumbass!” He brought out his sniper rifle. It glinted in the sun as he focused his scope. He could see Spekris’ wounded body clearly, but before he could pull the trigger, he was tackled by a Vandal. He was hoisted up from behind, as another Fallen came to restrain him. “You sure gave me a lot of trouble, lightbearer.” Spekris groaned, leaning forward again. Lacer attempted to raise his rifle, but his hand was torn off by a wire rifle. “Now, let’s see if yer ghost’ll survive.” He procured a Cabal slug shotgun from his back, and tapped its barrel menacingly. “Zahir was right,” Lacer thought, “it’s the slug shotguns. That’s how they kill ghosts.” He struggled against his grapplers but to no avail. “Just a few more shots would’ve killed this sucker.” He watched at least a dozen Vandals swarm around him. “Kill ‘im.” Spekris commanded. A Vandal to his side began to wind up its rifle, cackling. One final shot ripped through Lacer’s helmet, shattering the visor, and he hung limp. His ghost reluctantly showed herself, floating from behind his body. “Coming through!” A voice sang from above. Bronze came crashing down to the forest floor, vaporizing the entire group of Fallen with her arc light. “Thanks for giving me the idea of climbing the trees.” She began to revive Lacer and put a thumbs up toward a stumbling Spekris, still dazed from the attack. “It’s that other one from earlier… I was takin’ just a bit too long…” Spekris breathed heavily as he thought, “Just a bit longer, and I woulda had him.” “It’s over.” Lacer drew his rifle. “Now tell us everything you know about Tivik. Bronze raised her scout rifle as well. Spekris’ eyes flared in anger. “Y’THINK I’LL SELL OUT MY CREW?! MY FAMILY!? I’D RATHER DIE! Just the thought o’ that pisses me off! You’ll never reach Tivik! You’ll never learn anything!” He activated a device on his hip, and arc energy began to flow over him. “Hey, hey!” Lacer began to shoot, but his shots bounced harmlessly off the arc shield. “Miskor and I are gettin’ the hell outta here. We’re gonna survive.” The Eliksni muttered as he bolted away, disappearing into the trees. “Miskor! Miskor! What’s your status? Where are you?” “Spekris,” the younger Eliksni shakily whispered, “I’m almost to Tivik…” “Speak up, crab face!” Spekris spat, heaving as he ran. He hastily wrapped his bullet wounds in bandages. “I can’t… the lightbearer is looking for me, and my cloak will wear off soon… Spekris, please,” he began to whimper, “I don’t know what to do. Help me!” “Trust your instincts, Miskor. You’re gonna survive. We all are, and we’re gonna teach these guys a lesson for killing Darvahk. You hear me?” - QUICK NOTE: This chapter ended up being too long to post on b.net. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience, but you'll have to use the google doc linked above. Again, sorry.