Empty magazines dropped out of rifles and hit the ground with metallic clatters. The bullets and supercharged Arc energized rounds from the guns of the Vandals, pounded their targets. The impressive show of firepower lit up the dank, grungy gloom of the stone floor below, Bree emerged out from behind her cover last, Gjallarhorn on her shoulder. Her rocket blasted out of the tube with a loud bang, the recoil on it rocked her backward, but her boots were planted firmly into the stones beneath. A trail of smoke followed the missile all the way to its target, and then it connected. The shock wave from the Gjallarhorn detonation shook the very foundation below their feet, and as soon as the first rocket hit, Bree launched another round. Nobody had time to see the fallout as panic and disorientation overcame the group a Hell of a lot harder than any explosion could have. In a tangled mix of legs and arms, the Vandals vacated their shelter, Bree, running as fast as she could with the enormous rocket launcher in her hands, went scrambling back towards the entrance. The initial rocket knocked the creature backward, but the second was the fatal blow. The wings of the Arc energized beast flapped furiously as it tried to steady itself, but the Gjallarhorn blew a massive hole the size of a crater on the Moon. It shrieked and cried, but nothing was going to save it. As if someone had pressed a button, the Arc beast imploded, sending long white fingers of Arc energy throughout the cave, some bolts hit the ground while others slammed into the remaining two creatures. Bree managed to find her way back to the entrance, where a meek shelter of rubble was her last resort. Then, came the second surge of death, erupting and blooming like a flower in the spring, blanketing the floor with havoc. Both of the flying monstrosities began bombarding the team, but with everyone scattered, the creatures had trouble located them, so, they just rained down armageddon upon anything and everything. Shards, bits and pieces, stones, dirt, it kicked up like a dust storm, vision was obstructed, moving became difficult, and finally, the screams of one of her Vandals rang out above all of the pandemonium, but it ended abruptly. The chills ran along her arms and down her spine, she knew instantly from the cries, that the Vandal perished. “God damn it…” Bree swore to herself as she emerged from her pitiful shelter and out into the shadows. Without even waiting for her tracker to lock, she fired two blind rockets, high up into the air, not really knowing what she was aiming for. Like the 4th of July, the flames and sparks blew up in a huge dazzling cluster of fire and mayhem. Unfortunately, the two remaining winged nightmares held their positions and continued to haphazardly pound what was left of Bree and her fireteam. Bree loaded her Gjallarhorn again, she was down to her final two rockets, and God knows that she had to make them count. Her legs churning, pumping, grinding carry her frame forward, and only tripped over herself and other fallen objects a few times. The oxygen in her lungs finally ran out, and she came to a halt behind a pillar, she dropped to her knee and sucked in air. She set the rocket launcher on the ground next to her, trying to catch her breath. After getting her bearings, she stood but was immediately trampled on by the three Vandals that were still alive. “Jesus! I thought you were all dead…” Bree spoke to them, knowing they didn’t understand until Flower translated for her, but she didn’t care. “Flower, tell these guys that we have to do what we did last time, I have no idea which would be better to hit first, so we’ll just go after the purple creature,” Bree said as she hefted her rocket launcher back onto her shoulder. The message was sent, and then, they all ducked out from their cover, and as before, the Vandals fired first. One Vandal duel wielded two Wire rifles, another held a weapon Bree had never seen before. It looked like a crude grenade launcher that projected Shock grenades, and the Vandal held two of them. Bree made the same signal as before, and the Vandals unleashed a pummeling blaze of ordnance at the Void creature. While, Bree, stepped out, she waited for the locking device to acquire its target, then triggered her weapon. The combined artillery collided with the beast with such a terminal velocity that the creature didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in an oven. The beast spiraled down uncontrollably to the ground, spitting orbs of purple light that exploded in random places and intervals. “Flower! Tell them to keep firing!” Bree screamed into her helmet. Her Gjallarhorn hadn’t even ceased smoking before Bree dropped it and broke into a dead run towards the fallen winged creatures. The adrenaline surged and coursed in her veins as if it were Arc energy, the corpses of the two downed enemies, lay motionless in front of her. Bree’s Bladedancer activated, the powerful, hungering blade appeared in her right hand, her body outlined in dancing blue flames as she charged onward at full speed. Using the first dead body like stepping stone, she climbed up it. The unrelenting fire from the Vandals whizzed past her helmet, some of the rounds even found her armor. The flying creature still shot flaming orbs of exploding solar energy down at the Vandals, with each subsequent hit, Bree’s HUD flashed and told her how much of her armor was depleted. Unlike anything imaginable, she mounted the second beast, clambering up the ruined wing of the corpse. She pounced onto its chest and crawled up the plated scales like a spider. Bree swung up the tree trunk-like neck until her boots came together on top of the dead animal’s skull. Leaping into the black smoke, she opened a ripple in the air, vanished from sight, and blinked straight into the exposed neck of the final monster. She swung her Arc blade ferociously at the scales and found that soft flesh beneath, that her blade craved. Her screams reverberated on the inside of her helmet, with every bit of strength she had in reserve, Bree wrenched the blade upwards, her boots standing on the scales that resembled shingles on an old roof. The roar of the beast resounded through the caverns and down the deserted hallways of stone, but Bree was Hellbent on ending this fight, right here, right now. The winged monster thrashed violently, and Bree nearly fell off, but with her blade digging in damn near to her elbow, she wasn’t letting go. It ripped and tore at whatever ligaments and organs were inside until, finally, Bree had come to the throat. The howling and roaring were so intense that without the boost of energy and power, she might have lost her grip, but not now. She pulled the dagger free, and then set her sights on the neck. Bree’s hand found a hold and latched onto one of the scales, but all she was looking for was a tiny bit of separation between the plated armor on the beast, then, she found it. In a flash of lightning fast agility and speed, she jammed the tip of the starving blade into the throat. Sawing like a lumberjack, she furiously jabbed and cut, the blood that spewed from the wounds was black like tar, it smoked like it was on fire and covered Bree’s helmet in it, but she didn’t stop. One final hack, then, her powers vanished into nothingness, just as quickly as they had come, but it didn’t matter, the death blow had been dealt. The creature’s screams were silenced, the wings had stopped fluttering, the fire in its eyes had been extinguished, there was nothing left. Just like the other two, it twirled and spun, the lifeless body plummeted towards the ground, with Bree still holding on. It crashed through pillars of rock, crumbling barriers of stone, it slammed into the ground with an Earth shattering crack, and it sent Bree flying through the air like a human cannonball. She smashed through a rock wall like a wrecking ball, and out the other side. Bree’s body jerked and flailed as she rolled along the ground, until she finally came to a sliding halt which was only stopped by an unforgiving door made out of an alien material that was as hard as concrete. Bree lay there motionless, her breathing was shallow, her body limp, her heart barely beating, but she was alive. The black residue still covered her helmet and armor, the life preservation systems in her suit were flashing at her that they were automatically activated and working at full capacity. Now, on her knees, Bree wiped the blood off of her visor as best she could, and she smiled, a little small smile as her eyes came to rest upon the three dead creatures. Bree collapsed forward again, this time, she closed her eyes and cried softly. [i]Trials of a Guardian: Fight to the End (Chapter 10: Part III)[/i]: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/121177493 [i]Trials of a Guardian: ALL Chapters (Appendix)[/i]: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/105589170/0/0