Venus, the jungle. The ahamkaras that usually circle the vex constructs are silent... Or so one would think, if not inescapably aware of the sharp scent of burning air, and the endless screams of a dozen red superheated ozone rounds- zipping through various states of matter. "Welcome to hell, guardian." The commanding, yet oddly soothing-in-a-non-creepy-way voice of Lord Shaxx fills my helmet, cutting short my slightly newbish confusion. I find myself flinching as a familiar ping whizzes off in the distance. "Where am I? Is this not the crucible?" I am suddenly aware of my empty hands, my strangely weightless holster and the winds of the Shores of Time on my weaponless back. "The enemy- is everywhere. The ammunition? Weaponized eventuality." Before I could even look at my ghost to exchange a vacant stare, a curious looking device of red and white materializes in front of me. I cannot help but shake the feeling that I have seen it before. In my Tower vault, perhaps? Maybe it was that vendor whose face I can never remember... No matter. The questions fall silent as the weapon lands in my arms. It is heavy. It is long... It is surprisingly cold to the touch. "Icebreaker? But... Why?" I mutter confused, as a nearby bush shifts suspiciously. By instinct, I find myself turning and firing at the movement, incinerating the well-trimmed bush of the camouflaged figure, as she blinks out of her cloaked state; her own Ice Breaker glowing orange for a split second as I leap back and take aim. Her shot sears past my shoulder, but before I can pull the trigger- [b]PeeewwW![/b] Her body is engulfed in a brilliant flash of orange. She screams twisted laughter as her helmet vaporizes, and I catch her gaze for an instant. Pain, anger, ecstasy. Her middle finger extended in the last, wordless threat of her imminent return. I crouch behind an old vex storage box. It smells like a Suros factory. Or perhaps post-mortem bowel movements, vaporized in every way except for odor. Who knows? I don't know... What I did know is that the shot came from the tunnels. Circling around, I hear more shots ring out, and the faint chuckle of a satisfied Lord Shaxx in my exotic earpiece... "He's right" I thought. "This is hell." A frightened warlock gracefully stumbles out from an ancient corridor like a female gazelle that's both in heat, and on hallucinogens. Shots whizz past his stylish, yet ultimately useless overcoat. His Ice Breaker, blinking red; a hallmark of a guardian who, for lack of patience, had run out of time. "One, two, three..." I counted. I shook my head in my palm as the fourth shot hit him in the buttocks. "Five." The forest lit up orange yet again. Then there was only ash, and a leftover FWC belt buckle. "If only they could build the rest of their underwhelming gear as durable as that-" My thoughts are interrupted by more shots, and flashes of orange and red off in the distance. Quietly creeping through the underbrush- I crouch with my finger resting on the trigger guard. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a bright red light. A scope! Almost too late- I duck behind a tree. I feel the heat of the shot through my hezen-skinned neck guard, and ready myself for an answer to his obnoxious question- "[i]No[/i]." I exhale, as my shot screeches through a broad leaf, leaving a keyhole just wide enough for me to watch my assailant go radiant for the last time. Which made me chuckle. Because he was a titan. My momentary lulz are suddenly interrupted by a deep, more pronounced cluster of shots. Like an Ice Breaker, but one that was older, larger... Angrier. By habit, I had counted its shots. “Four, five, six” instinct compelled me to charge towards it, anticipating the silence of the Ice Breaker refractory period- “Seven, eight, nine!?” I stopped in my tracks. Hands trembling. The tenth shot came from the East. I had to see it. I had to know… Approaching a clearing where the small streams of the tunnel parted, I see standing high upon the tallest rock formation, an imposing figure. His helmet silent, and unbroken. His armor golden, and ornate- decorated with the proud pattern of ironwood branches and the heads of aroused wolves. Lord Saladin himself! Even more mesmerizing was his icebreaker. Nearly as tall as him, his armored hands resting on its thick, black hilt as he scanned the arena from on high. Its red and white design replaced by a rush of black, and plates of dark gold. Engraved by the Iron Lords, I glimpse its name. My ghost and I whispering it together... "Glacier Breaker" I watch in sheer awe as three guardians attempt to scale the large rock formation upon which Lord Saladin loomed. Wielding it with the throbbing confidence of tens of thousands of battles, and barely bothering to steady his aim, he calmly unleashed his fury upon his victims- blue fire consuming them one by one. Then, amid the scorched earth and fiery remains, Lord Saladin tilts his head and turns his helmet slowly towards me… “Only the worthy may stand upon the pedestal of victory, guardian.” He raises his arm to aim at me, but I find that I am unable to move. I could only observe every deliberate motion as if they were a grimoire of an epic battle- each with only one possible, fatal conclusion. It was then, I noticed the huntress from before, de-cloak behind him. Blade shimmering with jagged arc energy- she lunged as Lord Saladin took hold of the glacier breaker with two hands. “What-“ not halfway through that thought, I watch in amazement as he swings glacier breaker at his attacker with enough speed and force to break the bekenstein limit- firing at the moment of impact as her arc blade makes contact with the weapon’s glowing maw. A massive explosion of arc energy and blue fire fills the air- pushing me off my feet. As the air cleared, there stood Lord Saladin, glacier breaker cut deeply along the side, yet still glowing and every bit as deadly. Without thinking, I raise my own icebreaker, take aim and blurt out- “Mine, not yours!” In his sudden confusion, I begin to empty my shots at the iron lord, each with the resounding impact of an unstoppable force upon an immovable object. My sixth shot knocking him off the rock, Lord Saladin activates his lift thrusters and raises his smoking weapon towards me. My back to the wall, I stare in impressed disbelief at my impending doom as he descends while firing off three rapid shots that scream towards me… All stopping short at a hunter who at that very moment had just materialized, then dematerialized before my eyes. I couldn’t believe my luck. Then again, it was the legendary SmoggyPluto who had unwittingly intervened. With no time to mourn his untimely passing via spawnkill, I grab his Ice Breaker with one hand and raise my own in the other. Taking a knee as I had once observed The Son of Oryx do- I stabilize myself before dual firing the ice breakers and unleash a pounding hell of my own. For a brief moment, [url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2294/2034654905_f1df7b482a_o.gif]a vision of my guardian's past life, flashes before my eyes[/url]. Other beams appear, firing from all directions as what was once a free for all turned into an iron raid, united by our singular purpose of ending this hell- the symphony of Ice Breakers crashes upon Lord Saladin with the fury of the reddest death imaginable. When the smoke cleared, there was only the weapon. “We did it!” Yelled the recently revived SmoggyPluto as the insane huntress embraced him, laughing and gyrating like a golden age children’s show star-turned-pop-icon. Spontaneous dancing erupted, and celebratory Ice Breaker shots into the sky ended the lives of many a young ahamkara that day. “Well fought guardians.” Lord Shaxx appears before the crater where Lord Saladin once stood. “The tower thanks you all for taking part in this experimental contest of fire… And ice.” A familiar hooded figure phases in next to him, and picks up the ruined Glacier Breaker. “Ahh, the Glacier Breaker! A rare relic of the golden age. The Cryptarchs will be delighted to study and improve upon it. For your troubles, guardians!” A strange coin falls on each of our heads with a dull clunk as Rahool vanishes with the Glacier Breaker, leaving us in bewildered silence. At this moment, one could even hear each coins' mockingly unimpressive hum. Finally, the voice of Lord Shaxx snaps us out of our bemused trance- “Another battle won. On to the next fight.” [i]Fin~[/i]