Enjoy! Raven held her breath as she ducked behind a pillar. Her face burned and chest felt constricted. She had to restrain herself from gulping air. Peaking her head around the pillar, Raven stood, petrified, as the Cabal patrolled the area. Huge mongering creatures grumbling to each other. The Colossus standing atop the stairs hadn’t noticed them yet. She watched as it shifted weight from one side to the other as it stood guard. Clad in blue and white armor, the creature proudly wore the Ice Reapers emblem. “Luka,” Raven whispered summoning her ghost. “Yes dear?” “Can you scan how many enemies there are in the area?” “Of course.” Luka sent out a pulse wave, scanning the auditorium. “Eighteen, spread evenly among both levels of this room.” “I don’t know if we should engage.” “Then you’re a coward,” Super Good Advice spoke up. “Elevator on the other side of the stairs, all you have to do is get there.” “Are you insane?” “No, just apparently have a bigger set of balls than a hunter and a titan.” Raven rolled her eyes as she peaked around the pillar again. “Detecting hostile movement!” Luka exclaimed. A hailstorm of explosive rounds blanketed the area as they Raven and Alexander dove out of the way. The Cabal roared as they charged the stairs. Raven drew her Thorn and aimed it at the oncoming hoard. Metallic cracks echoed through the auditorium as she pelted the creatures with venom infused ammunition. As the shots hit the Legionaries, green vines began to weed their way into their armor. The more they were hit the stronger the vines became. One of the Legionaries stumbled forward and then back as he vomited purple blood. The liquid oozed from every orifice of its armor as it collapsed to the ground. Two, then three, then four fell. Alexander vaulted over the small cover into the oncoming Phalanxes. He felt the electric charge of arc energy surging as he dashed forward. The snap of the sound barrier echoed as he collided with the metal slab of the Phalanx shield. He felt it push back but stood his ground. As the Phalanx recoiled from the force, Alexander focused his light into an electric storm. Leaping into the air fists coupled together, he slammed the ground sending an enormous shockwave outward as a stroke of lighting collided with his body. The aroma of singed flesh and melted alloy filled the air. A rumble shook the ground as the Colossus stepped forward to challenge the guardians. It raised its heavy slug thrower, a Gatling gun, and fired. Slugs rained down at five hundred rounds per minute ripping apart the metal floor and ricocheting off slanted surfaces. As Alexander jumped out of the way, a flurry of homing rockets flew toward him. He braced himself as the impacts sent him flying back. He hit the ground and bounced as his shields shattered. Raven returned fire, but the Colossus simply shrugged off the rounds, its armor too thick to penetrate. She reloaded and took cover. Breathing deep and closing her eyes, she calmed the adrenalin surging in her body. As her heart rate slowed, and her face cooled, she clenched her fist, a void energy taking form. The bow burst to life and she opened her eyes and jumped into the air. Pulling back, she launched the void arrow at the Colossus. Tethers of void energy latched the creature to the ground. A black hole pulled the tethers tight and the Colossus strained against the light. Raven held up her Thorn, steadied her hand and fired three rounds into the alien’s head. The green venom seeped through the armor and into the Colossus. There was a reverberating roar before there the tether snapped. Alexander rolled to his feet. Shaking off the disorientation, he saw legionaries jumping from the second level, their sights trained on Raven. Reloading Immobious, he ran headlong into the fray. Shattering the sound barrier, Alexander killed one of the Legionaries. He quickly shot the first two rounds of Immobius into the hoard. Drawing their attention away, he pulled the group away from Raven. Raven panted as she slid behind cover. Sweat poured and her heart raced. Every breath was shallow and painful. Another salvo of rockets bombarded the dead kiosk forcing her to move once more. Her shields were almost gone and she needed to let them recharge. Turning again she fired as best she could at the creature. The bullets simply bounced off the armor and deflected elsewhere. A hailstorm of heavy slugs lit up the area. They tore through the metal and concrete of the structure. Raven slid once more behind a pillar. Once the rain of slugs ended she carefully peered around the corner. Grinning she leapt back into action as the creature stumbled slightly. A green ooze flowing from one of its eyes. She tossed a smoke grenade at the Colossus’ feet followed by a void wall grenade. The Cabal choked on the smoke and tripped forward onto the breadth of the flaming void energy. It took a knee dropping its Gatling Gun. Raven stood over the Colossus, it vomiting purple blood from its helmet. The Cabal roared and shot its arm out. Taking Raven by the neck it stood in one last feat of strength. Its arm shook violently as it drew it back. She kicked and pulled at the surprising strength the creature mustered. It coughed one last time as it threw Raven as hard as it could toward the glass overlooking the Mars wasteland. Her eyes widened, pupils dilated, as time slowed. She felt every moment pass like hours between her heart beats. One, two, three, four, the seconds ticked her mind. Her memory fluttered and adrenalin surged heating her body. A gripping fear immediately chilled her spine as the realization took hold, death. She could see, but didn’t. Everything turned inward and the sole focus became that one word. Raven counted the seconds as they passed, oblivious to anything else. Raven’s body jolted from a sudden impact that completely changed her trajectory. The inky black turned to a hazy scene of red and metal. Her weightlessness subsided as she felt someone dragging her to the ground. Alexander cradled Raven in his arms as he hit the ground. He held her close to his chest as he took a few steps to remain balanced. She remained silent when he asked if she was alright. Alexander let Raven to her feet and she barely stood. He nodded silently as he turned toward the way point on his HUD. Raven reached out and tried to speak. No words were able to escape. Her arm fell as she sighed and followed behind him. *** The room was rather small, the electronics ancient and red sand pooled in the corners. “What happened?” Super Good Advice questioned. “What do you mean,” Oliver responded. “This place was destroyed by the Cabal, we are lucky they haven’t completely leveled the city.” “Back when I was made, this place was bustling with life, ball.” “Back when this, back when that,” Oliver toted. “How about you realize just how out of sync you really are!” Oliver flew over to one of the dormant computers. Connecting with its mainframe, the ghost revived the machine. As it flickered to life, Alexander took out the frame from his back pack. "Whatever dumbass,” Super Good Advice spat. “Titan, request repairs then hook me into the computer.” Alexander complied as the side of the machine opened. He placed Super Good Advice into the cradle and hit the enter key. It closed, taking Super Good Advice inside. What the hell is that ball talking about, Super Good Advice wondered as the machine began to repair and fit parts back to its frame. It’s… it paused a moment as it accessed the Clovis Bray archives. It’s been almost four hundred years… Data about the Cabal, Pahanin and Dredgen Yor, Iron Lords, and SIVA all flashed across the screen. Most of the files were incomplete and corrupted but everything flashed passed Super Good Advice. The death of the Traveler, the end of the Golden Age, everything culminated in one simple realization, I was born in a world after the collapse, put in a box, stripped of parts, and left abandoned for almost four centuries. The machine opened and a new heavy machinegun was displayed. Super Good Advice remained silent as Alexander took the weapon and placed it next to Immobius on his magnetic holster. “What’s this,” Raven announced pointing to a soft red glowing light from behind a monitor on another machine. She jumped up, curiously looking for a distraction from her near death experience. Resting on a ledge, she picked up the piece of metal. It was a deep red and black. It emitted a warm red glow and warmed her hand as she thumbed it over. Jumping down she held it out to Alexander. It vibrated slightly as a swarm of red nanites burst from the piece of metal. They swarmed Raven around her cloak. Black pyramids started to form as the micro machines began to alter her cloak’s form. Raven panicked and screamed trying to brush off the red cloud. Once again her vision blurred and as her screams faded, she felt a pair of arms embrace her. “Do you trust me?” Alexander said. Raven felt the spark of arc energy. She looked up and tried to speak. Alexander could see her tearful eyes through her visor. She nodded gently and closed her eyes. She felt her body lift and fall forward, Alexander had fallen back and as the bolt of lightning crashed down Raven was protected from the shockwave. The red cloud evaporated and she lay there eyes shut tight.