[spoiler]All chapters of the War of Lies will be linked to the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/257167399/0/0]Table of Contents[/url] as they are posted every Monday[/spoiler] “Would someone be so kind as to get this load of Hive drool ON THE BLOODY SHIP?!” I bellowed. “Still talk like a City man, sir,” one of my underlings, Derre, chuckled. He was a little older than me and human like me, but no one cared about age or race in our line of work. “Cuz we City folk talk bloody proper, ya uncivilized maggot,” I retorted. That made Simon laugh as he sidled up next to the crate I had been yelling about. Derre joined him on the other side and together they lifted the heavy box and began carrying it to our cargo hold. “A dozen crews sent out ‘ere an I plan on leavin’ this Light-forsaken rock with tha most loot,” I grumbled, “Seren knows you need it for that debt o’ yers, Simon.” That killed Simon’s mood. “Don’t mention that witch,” he scowled, “Can’t believe a man like you got inta this kinda work without bein’ forced by a debt or starvation, Hal.” He was the physically youngest but actually oldest of the bunch, being an Awoken and all. Oddly enough he had a bit of a drawl even though he was Reefborn, but that could be explained by his involvement with us scavengers since many years ago. “Too bored in tha City,” I grumbled, “We been together fer months now, Simon. Hate ta lose ya, but I’ll get ya outta yer debt.” “Thanks, Hal, sir,” Simon grunted as he carried the crate. He didn’t call me by ‘sir’ often, unlike the careful Derre, so I knew he was really thankful for my promise. “Least I got food now,” Derre huffed, “Seren may be an underhanded criminal, but at least she gives people jobs.” “Not like we’re any better,” I chuckled, “Now get them rocks on board before I feed yer carcasses ta tha Thrall.” “Why do you use Hive so much in your pep talks?” Derre inquired. “Cuz tha Hive’re scary, an I wanna seem scary,” I answered with a smirk. That made Simon break out laughing and drop his end, causing Derre to put his down, too. “Simon you Dreg, that coulda…ah, forget it,” Derre began laughing as well, and I couldn’t help but join in. My favorite part of the job aside from putting in a good day’s work? The people. We were all just a bunch of typical grunts scraping the bottom of the barrel. Surviving. Making ends meet. Everyone had something. You saw people as they were out here, and there was something I found fulfilling about that. Didn’t mean I could trust any of them, but it did mean I could find some fun characters. A hollow boom echoed through the tunnel we were in, followed by the sound of rocks settling. A cloud of dust billowed through the dug cavern and the ground shook slightly. “Idiots’ll bring the hole place down,” Derre griped while Simon laughed, holding his sides. “Nah, that blow was safe,” I reassured him, able to recognize differences in the shaking after years working in mining, “Too safe… an tha rest o’ our boys are back tha other way…” “Did Seren’s lackies send more to dig?” Derre questioned. He was a serious and cautious man, but that was a good thing when working with the Reef Mob. “I seen tha maps,” I put my hand on my sidearm, “Ain’t no one been diggin’ o’er there. Simon, trust ya ta watch tha ship an not gun off. Derre, c’mon.” Simon grew serious and rushed to the ship, leaving the crate and his equipment behind. They could be replaced, but so could we. That was the problem with this work: there was always danger. Malfunctions and terrain aside, the Mob has plenty of competition even within its own members, not to mention alien, City, and Awoken threats. Simon knew as well as I that if things went south it would be better to hightail it out and lose a score than to die and not be remembered. Drawing my sidearm, I bent low and walked quickly alongside the edge of the tunnel for cover. Derre came close behind. I kept my flashlight off and followed the dim bulbs of the markers we had set up. After a bit we reached a fork and I looked at the ground to determine which way the detonation had blown the dirt from. I followed it left, and then at a three-way fork to the right, before we heard activity. “The sonograms were right,” a voice called, “Someone dug these right next to where we are.” There was a rattling smack and a whine of pain. “What was that for?” “Stop and think,” someone else spoke in a more hushed tone, “The lights are on and this area is still full of ore. Maybe whoever dug these tunnels is still here.” We came up to a turn and hid in a nook. I didn’t risk peeking out. They would come this way anyway and we’d learn more if we waited. “Didn’t have to hit me over that,” the first grumbled. “You learn better with a reminder like that,” the second snapped quietly, “And stupid acts need punishment.” “The sergeant doesn’t hit,” the first complained. “The sergeant is back watching over the ship,” the second retorted, “And I prefer my own methods.” Sergeant? They definitely weren’t our boys, or any other of Seren’s that I knew of. Couldn’t be Awoken, they used different rank terminology. Couldn’t be City, they had stopped sending anyone out after Twilight Gap. “Who are these guys?” Derre whispered. “Competition. Bad news. Call ‘em whatcha like,” I answered, prepping my gun, “We shoot n’ run back fer reinforcements.” We waited in silence for several moments, listening as quiet scuffs of boots announced that they had started wandering deeper into our tunnels. Finally, when they sounded close enough, I took a couple quick steps out of our nook and leveled my weapon. Derre was right at my side. In the moment before firing, I took in their identical full-body light armor and rifles that were already held at the ready in a manner that seemed drilled into them. They made our shoddy scavenged sidearms and leather-padded clothes look like crap, but the way they were all colored completely in red and grey didn’t make much of a fashion statement. The passage lit up with the sounds and flashes of gunfire. Luckily, I was a decent shooter and we had the element of surprise. The first man fell down to a knee when I shot his ribs. Derre missed his shot and yelped when our second opponent fired his full-auto weapon and landed a couple bullets. I took a graze to the arm as well, but when I fired again the second man backed up from the corner and his comrade managed to stumble back while laying out wild fire. At the same time that they moved, I grabbed Derre around the waist and began dragging him backwards while constantly shooting at the corner to keep them from coming around to finish us. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/257167457/0/0]Link to Chapter 1, Part 2[/url]