[i]A month after the meeting…[/i] Saladin stood in the dark, listening to the quiet humming of the ship’s engines. He felt the ship shake and jerk as the explosions outside beat at it. He took a few deep breaths to steady his nerves. He had been out of the battle for too long and now his body was screaming for action. The rest of his Strikers weren’t so lucky. He could sense how nervous they were. Most of them had been fighting the Darkness almost every day of their second life for years by now. But, none of them had ever seen this level of intense combat. They were used to small skirmishes against maybe a hundred enemies. The Fallen army that was stubbornly holding the Cosmodrome was hundreds of thousands strong. The House of Devils and the House of Kings had apparently reached an agreement because they had joined forces to oppose the Guardians’ advance. It didn’t matter though. No one would, could, stop the Iron Banner. Static from the ship’s coms broke through his thoughts. He heard a woman speak; “Approaching target. Prepare for Strike Drop.” Saladin grinned like a wolf. It really had been too long since he had a good fight. The rush of adrenaline he was feeling now felt as comforting to him as a warm blanket is to a child. He made sure his weapons were firmly secured to his back and checked to see how much ammo he had. Satisfied that he wouldn’t be running out of bullets, he looked around him to make sure all of his Titans were prepared. Despite their nervousness over the battle, his Titans were still soldiers. They finished checking their guns, tightening their armor, and stood ready. While this was the first time they had attempted a Strike Drop in active combat, they had drilled it for weeks. Saladin knew they could do it. The woman spoke again; “Strike Drop in five. Four. Three. Two. One. Drop!” On the last word, the floor opened and Saladin’s squad fell towards the battle. Saladin heard yells of excitement come from his Strikers as they began their mile-high drop. He summoned his arc energy and coated himself in it. He could feel the static as the rest of the squad did the same. The air buzzed with power and Saladin could smell ozone through his helmet’s filter. He looked down at the battlefield. The scene was lit up with the flashes of bullets and arc bolts as the Guardians and Fallen clashed. Skiffs and jumpships flew overhead in intense aerial combat. From overhead, it almost seemed like the world was splitting apart as explosions tore apart the Earth. It was only going to get worse. Saladin drew back his arms and lunged downwards towards a large cluster of Fallen walkers. The rest of his squad followed suit, the arc energy surrounding them growing larger by the second. Then, Saladin and his Strikers hit the ground and a blinding light burned across the battlefield. The Fallen buried their faces as best as they could only to be decimated by the shockwave and arc energy that followed. The Guardians had been prepared and all their visors were fully tinted, but even then the light still left them partially dazed. The sound of thunder shook the ground and the smell of smoke filled the air. When Saladin stood up, he was at the bottom of a massive crater. He could taste copper in his mouth and feel blood dripping down a gash on his leg. He looked around to see most of his squad shakingly get to their feet and draw their weapons. But not all of them were getting up. Several lay eerily still in the dirt. Not even their ghosts had survived the fall. In fact, Saladin had a suspicion that none of the Titans had survived the fall. He would have to talk to his ghost about it later. Right now, he had a battle to fight. Saladin drew his auto rifle and climbed to the edge of the crater, gesturing for the remaining members of his squad to join him. When they crested the lip, Saladin had to work to keep his jaw from dropping. He knew that the Strike Drop would do damage. Catastrophic damage. But he hadn’t expected to kill everything within half a kilometer. “Oh no,” someone whispered behind him. Saladin turned around to see that they had dropped too close. The blast had reached the Guardians’ front line. Dozens of Guardians lay dead, their armor charred black. He could see their comrades trying to revive them but Saladin knew it was futile. The ghosts could do a lot, survive a lot, but with damage like that even the ghosts would be dead. Saladin heard the guttural cries of the Fallen in the distance and saw them retreat away from the Guardians. Skiffs flew down and began picking up as many of them as they could. The skiffs took off trying to get away from the battlefield. However, in their panic they had forgotten about the Guardian jumpships. The skiffs were shot down, exploding amidst the Fallen trying to escape on foot. The Fallen army was in tatters. This was a victory. But at what cost? Saladin’s ghost appeared beside him. “Saladin, incoming transmission from Lord Shaxx and the Vanguard. They want to know what happened.” Saladin shook his head. “Send them a basic report for now. I’ll tell them in person when I get back to the tower. What the hell did we do,” he questioned his ghost. A voice spoke up from behind him before his ghost could answer; “Your duty Saladin. Thirty Titans just broke the Fallen’s hold on the Cosmodrome. That’s the stuff of legends.” Saladin didn’t want to look at the woman behind him. They had a history, and not an entirely pleasant one. “Hello Ana. Long time no see.” [b]Please comment, like, and bump! I hope you enjoyed it![/b] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/124202898/0/0]Chapter List[/url]