Rest of the story: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15ew1g89oxjEj5mZRFvv94Ht2Td6lVWkc-Lk7nwplUgg The tag works too, but not all chapters are there [b]Chapter 14[/b] “Oh, holy crap.” Lacer watched as Tivik wrestled his arm through the chest of a giant minotaur, hundreds of feet above them atop a Vex spire. The foreboding maw of the Leviathan captured the spectacle. “Man, that guy’s a tough one, isn’t he?” Ascella asked in awe, her hands at her hips. “You have no idea. C’mon, we’re going up there.” Lacer motioned the hunter over. “Zahir was almost able to kill Tivik earlier, so with two of us, we should be fine.” “Really? I mean, of course we can! But isn’t he really strong?” The two began to scale the steep Vex architecture. “It’ll be fine! This dude’s all about trapping guardians, not fighting them in the open like this.” Lacer caught a goblin above him by the leg and flung it away. “I mean, we still have no clue how he sets ‘em up, but we know about the poison and how he kills ghosts.” “Explain.” Ascella plunged her knife into the milky stomach of a hobgoblin. Its red eye dimmed as it slumped harmlessly against the spire. “Well, we know that when he gets his target to the blight, he uses the Taken energy and the Hive poison he bottles up to make sure the guardian’s more helpless than a fish outta water. Then, when he shoots em down, he destroys the ghost with a Cabal slug shotgun. It’s quick and easy because the ghost’s trapped in a whole lot of darkness. Real gruesome, real dirty. That’s why we gotta find out how he gets folks to the blights in the first place. Though, I think I have a good idea now.” He looked up at the top of the spire, still a few tens of meters above. “He must’ve used Vex tech to teleport away from Zahir, and all the way to Nessus. It’s the only way he could’ve gotten away, and it explains why he’s alone.” “Where’s Zahir and his cute little student, anyway? And we could use Eltanin for intel.” Ascella heaved herself up another level. “Uh, about that…” Lacer held up a finger. “Y’know what? Just have your ghost read ya this.” “Urgh!” Tivik breathed heavily, sliding his claws over a device. The minotaur before him fell to the ground, its imposing shadow receding. “Noxis, will you be here soon?” “We are travelling as fast as possible. Settle down! It is your fault for not being able to kill that guardian!” “The situation was not ideal.” “That is why I have told you time and time again: you must adapt! The fall of Darvahk was the beginning of the end. Make sure it is not our end.” Tivik looked down over the tip of the spire. “Those guardians again… and,” He heard the crackling sounds of Vex teleportation. Another massive minotaur’s legs began to assemble themselves before him. “I’ve spent all my energy, this isn’t good. Those guardians will be at the top of the spire soon.” “Lemme go first, Lacer.” Ascella threw her arm up and pulled herself over the top. “Uh… Lacer!” She began firing her hand cannon. “Tivik isn’t here, but-“ Lacer watched as she was flung over the edge. “There’s another minotaur! I’ll climb back up as fast as I can!” She broke her fall with a double jump and gave a thumbs-up to Lacer as she met the ground. “All right, buddy, square up.” Lacer hoisted himself atop the spire. His opponent looked down upon him with its single red eye. It immediately pointed its torch hammer at the titan and fired. Lacer backpedalled, hiding behind a small pillar to shield himself from the void explosions. He looked to his side to see Tivik crawling down the spire. “I’d want to go after him, but this minotaur’s really pissing me off.” Lacer looked over at the other minotaur’s corpse, “I gotta find out what the hell’s going on here, but Tivik is... Agh!” He forced himself to push Tivik away. He peeked out again, and was surprised to see the minotaur waiting with its arm over its head. It struck Lacer, who had begun to jump away. The titan sailed past the edge, but caught onto a stray metal bar on the Vex platform. “Man, I”- Lacer was pulled over by the minotaur. It opened its claw and pinned Lacer to the ground, beginning to bombard him. “Oh, cut it out!” He spread his arms out, enveloping him and the entirety of the crouching colossal Vex in void energy. “Ascella, get up here!” He groaned, struggling against the claw as he punched the minotaur’s chest. His ward of dawn’s empowerment would only prolong his death. “Almost there! I’ll give you a shadowshot in the meantime!” She called out. “No! I’ve got a bubble down, it won’t work! Just hurry!” Lacer looked over to the side of the spire. A hand reached over and grasped the edge of the small platform. “Hey, that was quick.” He sighed in relief, but revolted when he saw that his rescuer was not Ascella, but a warlock. Phoros marched over to the inside of Lacer’s dome and brought a grenade launcher into his hands. “What a primitive way to dispose of a minotaur.” He remarked, blowing the minotaur’s outstretched arm apart and releasing Lacer. “Aegeus, Transported Mind. Interesting target, Guardian Killer.” Phoros shot another grenade. Lacer fell to the ground and coughed as his crushed chest began to regenerate. “What the hell are you doing here?” Lacer pulled himself to his feet as the minotaur continued to be pelted by explosives. “Was that a rhetorical question? I’m here because Tivik is here.” Phoros stowed his empty weapon. “Run, titan. Push Aegeus while he’s stunned.” He bolted toward the recoiling Vex. “Agh, fine.” Lacer ran beside the warlock. Aegeus let out a shrill screech that pierced the duo’s ears as it raised its foot. “Shit, get back!” He yelled, but it was too late. A shockwave spread across the ground, launching the guardians away from the minotaur and far past the top of the spire that was their small arena. “Are you kidding me? We gotta climb all the way back up?” “No. Our efforts were not in vain. Aegeus knocked the other minotaur’s corpse loose.” Phoros pointed to the falling collection of metal limbs below them. “We can now examine what Tivik did to it.” “Screw that! I’m coming, Ascella!” Lacer boosted himself back toward the spire, landing about halfway up its length. Phoros knelt by the dirt covered minotaur. He brushed aside a collection of loose metal shards, revealing a ghastly hole through its chest. He reached behind his head, and his hand came back over with a silent ghost in its grasp. The ghost promptly scanned the hole. “Teleportation module. I see. This all but confirms it! The reason every single one of his targets is found at a blight is because Tivik transports his target there!” The ghost in the warlock’s hand slowly turned to peer at him. “Phoros… I have one question. Why are you hunting the Guardian Killer?” “I do not wish to disclose that. Now, disappear.” He ground his mouth plates as he stood up, patting the alien dirt off of his knee. His ghost had not talked to him in a while. Its voice brought Phoros back to a time in which the two conversed more often. - Phoros trudged through the rubble. He looked around the collapsed structure that surrounded him like a trap. He spotted an arm before him, sticking out of a heap of rock as if it was a tombstone. It was, in fact, a tombstone. He stayed silent as he laid the titan’s head back. He moved over to his right, causing the sun’s rays to blind him. A hunter lay on the ground, twisted and contorted in a perpetual image of agony. The warlock continued to say nothing as he rearranged his comrade’s limbs into place, setting the hunter’s body to lay straight, looking up to the sky through the ruined building’s spotty ceiling. He made a slow walk outside, kicking aside the charred remains of a Hive knight on his way. “Survival.” He said, looking out across the street. The building he had exited blended in with the rest. “What was that?” His ghost appeared beside him. “Go back.” He brushed his companion aside. “If you and I are to survive, humanity and its guardians must become much stronger. We cannot remain this way.” “I never thought of you as someone for the greater good.” “I never said I was. This,” he looked down at the dented pieces of shattered ghost shells in his palm, “is about my own survival. I will grow stronger. Much stronger. I will live for myself. There are threats out there we must be ready for at all costs.” Phoros took one last look behind him, at the building he had lost his heart in. A rabbit began to burrow under the hollow space beneath the knight’s helmet Phoros had kicked over. He made a sound as if he was spitting and turned tail, leaving the grave of those who had given him hope behind forever.