[b]Continued from above.[/b] “Arial,” Alec called out over the radio. “Looks like the Hive have stripped the drone of anything useful. Do you have a signal of any sort that may show where the Hive may try to activate anything they may have found?” “Keep going east,” Arial replied. “There seems to be some activity in that direction. The Fallen may have intervened in the Hives grab of the contents of the drone.” Whisk felt something…like he was being watched. “Arial,” Whisk began to ask. “Can you read any life form readings in our area?” “No,” Arial responded. “None that we can see or detect in your guys immediate area, sir.” Alec and Whisk looked at each other then out into the distance; all they saw was the settling dust over the Martian surface. They didn’t feel like they were alone; one thing they knew from their experiences was: Never trust a computer on telling you if you’re alone or not. They continued their walk, with caution, making sure they weren’t being followed; though they knew there were never any guaranties of not being followed, when out and about on a mission. They didn’t travel far before coming across another downed ship; it looked like an old military class destroyer. The hull was ripped open and the cockpits windows were gone, none of the major armaments were still on it, it was buried part way beneath the moon dust. Whisk approached the hole in the hull, he climbed up inside of the vessel as it creaked and groaned at his weight leaning on it. Alec climbed up after him once he had gotten far enough inside. The inside was dark, but not dark enough to see the remains of its crew, all who were seated at their stations. The skeletons leaned against their controls, against the walls of the ship, and on one another; their faded uniforms were grey, “Recon 12” was on a patch on their arms. Whisk had already reached the cockpit when Alec got to him; the pilots at their stations, leaning over the controls. Whisk saw something under the one pilot’s seat; he bent down and picked up what looked like a small gun case. “Moon Duster” was written on the case; Whisk opened it up to reveal a large revolver. It had an all satin barrel and body, black grips, “Moon Duster” machined in on the side of the barrel. A momentum conductor under the barrel near the trigger guard, allowed the bullet to gain massive momentum over a short distance, dealing hard hitting damage. As Whisk looked at his new found tool of destruction, Alec noticed a piece of the drone attached to the console in front of the pilots. It appeared to be transmitting something, but Alec had Whisk work on it because he didn’t know anything about that kind of stuff. Alec went back outside; making sure no one was outside waiting for them. Then, as Alec stepped outside, the feeling of being watched, suddenly turned into a reality. From inside the ship, Alec could hear Whisk shooting his Fusion smg and hear Hive screeching. Then, from the dust of the moon, several Hive shrouded in cloth that looked like the moons dust (like a guile suit) arose from the dust, like zombies from the grave. As Alec grabbed “Painful Reunion” and was swinging it from around his back, the ground beneath him began to shake. Whisk had just come outside to witness a large beast emerging from the ground, roaring; it was very large, at least two of Alec stacked on top of each other. It was pale like a Hive and had large legs and hands; its head was large as well, having huge, sharp teeth; eyes that were black with only a small glint in them, much like the rest of the Hive. The beast grabbed Alec into its arms around his waist, trying to crush him. Alec looked into the beast eyes; and alarm appeared in Alecs’ sights faintly, warning him of a possibility of him being crushed. “No, duh.” Alec thought to himself. Alec clenched his fist, unloading some powerful blows to the beast face. The creatures face was hard, it was mostly bone, and as Alec punched it repeatedly, pieces of bone and flesh were torn away with every hit. Slowly the alarm faded, but the beasts grip didn’t completely let go; so Alec reared up and brought his elbow down on its face, causing the beasts massive arms to drop to its sides, releasing Alec at once. Alec looked around for Whisk; seeing two dead Hives on the ground, he looked in the distance and saw Whisk surrounded by five of the remaining Hive. Whisk stood in the center of them, holding his arms up, with his palms facing up, looking like he was saying: “What are you waiting for?” The Hive looked at one another, as if arguing who should go first. Suddenly, one ran for Whisk and then they all ran for him. Whisk then clapped his hands together, emitting a blue flame around him, setting the Hive ablaze in blue flame. The Hive screamed and hissed as they burned. Whisk walked over towards Alec, looking at the beast lying before them. “I hate these things,” Whisk said “’Ogres’ are so freaking weird; it dead?” “No,” Alec said, reading his shotgun. “Wait,” Whisk said with a start. “Let me try this.” Whisk pulled out “The Moon Duster,” and pointed it at the “Ogre” pulling the hammer back. The shot rang out like a boom of thunder, kicking up dust everywhere, leaving a small crater where the ogres head had been. Alec had stumbled backwards a little bit, nut wasn’t knocked down. Whisk on the other hand was blown ten feet off the ground and thrown about ten yards. As they walked close to each other, Alec took the revolver from Whisks’ hand, examining it closely. He notices something on the bottom of the underside of the barrel. It read: [i]“[b]Warning[/b]- Do not shoot creatures (or persons) closer than ten feet. Wear eye protection when using the Moon Duster. Keep out of reach of children. Does a considerable amount of damage to targets at close range; the longer the range, the harder the hit, but almost no penetration power. The bullets wake kicks up loose dust/dirt/debris as it flies towards its target, so beware.”[/i] “That was nuts,” Whisk said with a laugh. “I got the drone thing, let’s get out of here.” Alec didn’t argue; he just wanted to leave before more Hive showed up. As they were leaving, Whisk pointed his revolver in the direction opposite they were facing, firing a second round. The moon dust around the wake of the bullet was kicked up, looking like a wave of moon dust (about six feet in height). Whisk just nodded his head in approval of his new found weapon. They continued their trek towards the Leviathan, being ever so careful not to draw any more attention. As the came within a hundred yards of their ship, they heard the sound of running feet behind them; three shots rang out and three Fallen Dregs then lay dead on the ground. From atop the Leviathan stood Arial, wielding her rifle. “Beginners luck!” Whisk shouted at her, but was grinning under his mask. Alec and Whisk stuffed themselves into the airlock again, and endured the tight ride to the cargo hold again. When they arrived at the top, they were in for a surprise. “Hey,” Exclaimed Jk-Bx “Look at all the garden gnomes I found outside!” Whisk and Alec couldn’t believe their eyes; Jk-Bx had filled at least half the cargo hold full of gnomes. Their beady eyes and smiles sent a chill down Whisk spine. “Boris,” Alec shouted. “Get us out of here!” “Okay *hic*,” Boris said with a hiccup. “You got it *hic* boss. Oi, this vodka is good. *hic* Too bad you don’t *hic* drink boss.” “You Irish,” Whisk asked “Drinking on the job?” “No. *hic* Boris responded. “Russian. *hic*” As everyone gathered in the cockpit, Jk-Bx ran up to the front and placed a gnome on the dash board. “I don’t like its beady, little eyes. *hic*” Boris said, squinting at the gnome. The Leviathan roared to life and Boris (though intoxicated) piloted the ship back towards Earth. As they waited to reach Earth’s atmosphere, Arial informed them that the contents of the drone was classified beyond their pay grade; the realized they weren’t being paid, she changed the topic. “Alec,” Arial began in her usual formal tone. “Since this mission was a success, I am to tell you of So Fawns whereabouts, so you may extract him. Alive and able to speak; Commander Tarn said it was a gift to you.” “I’m listening.” Alec said in a dark tone and a mechanical twinkle in his eye. Thank you for reading. Feedback and comments are appreciated. End chapter Eleven Chapter twelve http://www.bungie.net/7_The-Chronicles-of-Alec-Blackwater-Chapter-XII-Rain/en/Groups/Post?id=62666779&groupId=39972#referred- Note: The "Ogre" Hive is complete speculation and used only for entertainment purposes.