[i]*Fanfiction. Once again it seems I've collected too much content for a chapter. The last bit was cut away and left as a reply to this post for convenience. As always, Enjoy! Please comment and critique as you see fit.*[/i] [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/87862826/0/0/1]Chapter One[/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/89295530]Previous Chapter[/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/93093527/0/0]Next Chapter[/url] [i]"I can see the stars... Far below me... Lights born... and died."[/i] [b]--- Chapter Three or The First Floor ---[/b] The prison shook. It shook because it was angry... it was angry because it’s slumber had been disturbed and that disturbance led to the war breaking out within her walls. Strangers had come banging against her doors demanding the release of something that no longer belonged to them… but she would not give in so easily. Her shields held fast against the Fallen barrage and a fire burned inside her. [b]"I... am... a coward."[/b] A simple statement. It was the only help Randar could offer in the seconds that followed after impact. He watched from safety as chunks of space rock bounced harmlessly off the translucent barriers of the prison. It seemed they did little more than annoy it. [b]"What's happening?!"[/b] Randar looked to his right. Someone was yelling at another.The man’s eyes were wide, his chest expanding too fast, his arms flailing about him in a pathetic attempt to fight off a guard. He would surely die, but there was good news: Oxygen was still coursing through the veins of the prison feeding the ensuing chaos. The walls had not been breached. There was still a chance at life and for now, Randar was safe. He moved to stand up and somehow make himself useful... when the crumpled helm of a guard tumbled to the ground in front of him. Lock sent the rest of the man flying into the opposite wall, creating a noticeable dent in the metal frame. [b]"They failed!"[/b] He cried in an autotuned voice. It was the oddest thing to hear when everyone else in the prison was either Awoken or Fallen. To listen to a machine as it spoke was both strangely calming and yet very much unsettling. Randar couldn't tell if the man was happy for their failure... or panicking. [b]"Now what?!"[/b] [b]"[Forward! Push forward!]"[/b] The Fallen Captain, Sky, had one guard nestled firmly by the neck in the crook of her arm and another with her fingers wrapped around his rather small head. She dragged them behind her as if they were the toys with which she was to escape with... a pair of oversized stuffed animals for her to sleep with at night. They both continued to struggle until one ran out of oxygen and the other broke his own neck. They were tossed to the side and quickly replaced. At her heel were numerous faithful Dreg, ever on a quest to prove their loyalty and honor and take that next step in their military career. They mopped up what guards she spared while those ahead of her became her shield. They funneled into the corridors connecting each shuttle to the other, soaking up bullets until supply ran dry and eating daggers until blades ran dull. It was an altogether gruesome and wondrous scene. Randar's front row seat was interrupted when his savior remembered he needed saving. A dark metallic hand found his jumpsuit and pulled him out from under the table and into the open. [b]"Are you listening?!"[/b] A blank stare. [b]"I said we’re moving! Stay right behind me!"[/b] Randar nodded and with the help of Lock's free hand, remained supplanted to the man's ass. Thus began their circumnavigation around the large asteroid and their ascent of the Prison of Elders. They moved briskly through each room, the Dregs and the Awoken in each area having done their job and taken out the guards. The actual conflict had lasted little more than half a minute. Randar was dragged through the aftermath; each room revealed a fresh pile of unconscious or dead guards and prisoners. There wasn't much left to scavenge at the bottom level. Only a few guards were given handcannons and the rest were armed with charged batons. Each gun was loaded with six specially designed bullets or hollow points. The intention was to cause irreparable damage on target while protecting the integrity of the prison walls. Once the cylinders had been emptied, guards would have to resort to combat in close quarters. The sheer number of inmates however quickly overwhelmed them. All that remained were complicated paperweights and a sparse collection of spent melee weapons. Survivors, as numerous as they were, gathered the later and moved on. The rooms ahead were all cleared out and awaiting them at the end of the final corridor was Vahn, his arms a flurry of motion as he parried fists and sent guards colliding into one another. When he’d incapacitated the last one, he greeted Sky and then turned to Lock. His mask was hiding the unpleasant expression on his face. [b]”[What is this? This door here…]”[/b] His vernacular was rather simple and Lock had a hard time translating. Vahn knocked against the closed door with one of his fists. It was the one that lead to Korbal. [b]”[Should this not be open?]”[/b] This was exactly what Lock was afraid of and why he'd already given up. He shook his head. [b]”No. I said it during the meet. Power needs to be down for this door to open but it seems your people are either too ignorant or too prideful to care.”[/b] That or their information network was severely lacking. Not only had their attack on the prison itself been a failure but it seemed the riot they had unwittingly sparked within it’s walls was to fizzle out as well. In the end, they were only there for Aksor. They could have cared less about the Wolves held captive by the Queen. However Vahn didn’t seem to understand. [b]”[What you say?]”[/b] Again, with a vocabulary the size of a thimble, translations were difficult and Lock didn't pick up on the change in the Captain's tone of voice. [b]"[i]They failed...[/i]"[/b] Lock pointed at the door. [b]”That only opens... [i]if the power is out[/i]”[/b] He hoped the added emphasis would drive his point across, not only for Vahn but the other oblivious inmates as well. The sudden grip around his throat let him know that he’d done too good a job. His feet left the ground and soon Lock found himself pressed against the door that separated him and the next level of the prison. [b]”[Vahn!]”[/b] Sky began to protest and moved to step in between the two, but a fierce look from the Fallen Captain froze her in place. If it had been anyone else, they’d already be dead. There was a moments pause before Sky continued... keeping her distance. [b]”[What are you doing? Put him down!]”[/b] [b]”[I not like his tone]”[/b] [b]”Listen Vahn.. why don’t you leave the talking to Sky. She does a far better job than you.”[/b] Vahn responded by peeling Lock away from the door and slamming him against it with tremendous force. This time however, Lock, who hadn't touched Vahn, reached for the man’s arm and began to push back. Pain was a curiosity to Exo’s. Their body was ancient metal, their minds of a mysterious working that mimicked those of their creators. Exo’s experienced pain… but only as their former masters saw fit. Whoever had given life to Lock in the past had turned his pain receptors on… and the signals were setting off alarms. Any more pressure and Vahn could easily separate Lock’s head from his shoulders… and he wasn’t entirely okay with that. [b]”[Vahn!]”[/b] Sky moved once again but a Dreg stepped in front of her. A scar across his cheek marked him as one of Vahn’s. In his hand was one of the scavenged batons and surprisingly it still held a charge. Sparks of blue and white light would periodically arc to the tip and bite at the air. [b]”Stop, it’s fine.”[/b] Lock continued to struggle against Vahn’s grip. [b]”Give it a few more seconds. They’ll release the gas and knock us all out…"[/b] He turned to Vahn. [b]"...Or just you."[/b] He finished by flashing Vahn a glowing smile. Exo’s couldn’t breath. Vahn clenched rotted teeth, teeth hidden away by the mask covering the lower half of his face. He balled up two fists and held them in the air poised at Lock’s grinning maw. [b]”[I knock you out… for [i]nice[/i].]”[/b] [b]”What?”[/b] [b]”Wait!”[/b] Surprisingly Randar, who had remained silent the entire time decided to speak up. He took a step toward the Fallen Captain but another Dreg, sharing a scar on his cheek similar to the other, delivered a solid blow to his gut. Randar immediately doubled over and tumbled to the ground. Every last ounce of breath had been forced from his lungs and he was left gagging for air. [i]*Continued below...*[/i]