If you missed the last episode, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/223139875/0/0]here[/url], or if you need to find a previous episode, you can find them all in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/220441594/0/0]Master Post[/url]. Please give a bump, upvote, or leave comment if you enjoy this and any other chapter! *** The Darkness grows the deeper we travel – eventually, though, the lights we see ahead become the things which send shivers down my spine and the darkness behind us becomes the comfort I wish I could return to. “So what do we call you?” one of them asks suddenly. It takes me a moment to realize they’re talking to me. “What?” “What do we call you?” Loren asks again. I weigh my options – [i]Do I reveal my identity, or give them an alias?[/i] After a moment, I decide it doesn’t matter – they just need something to call me while we fight. “Stranger will suffice,” I answer cooly as the pirate rolls his eyes. “Gods be damned – “ “Hush, Loren!” his Ghost chides him. “Don’t be blasphemous.” Loren bursts out laughing, and Kenedi grabs his shoulder. “Silence is a virtue, especially down here.” Loren sizes Kenedi up disdainfully. “Wise words. You should heed them as well.” I cast a furtive look to the two Eliksni trailing us and see them looking around suspiciously, focused completely on the mission at hand. [i]Who’d have thought the Fallen would be the easiest ones to keep focused…[/i] “All of you need to shut up,” I hiss as I hug my rifle tighter. “We’re almost to the Well. Vex presence will increase exponentially.” “That’s why we’ve got all you robots with us,” Loren jeers. “You can all vouch for us to your tin-can – “ His Ghost hovers quickly into his head again, smacking him. “You can never do things the easy way, can you?” she asks angrily. “Hey, I didn’t hear you complaining when you had a body,” he gripes. “You used to like the adventures and the excitement, admit it – “ His Ghost shivers again angrily. “And where did they lead me?” Loren’s face falls as the Ghost glares and he mercifully lapses into silence. I hold my hand up in the new quiet and crouch down, hearing the others follow suit behind me. I watch the corridor up ahead sharply for any movement, but detect nothing. I turn back to my team, whispering. “The Well should be just up ahead. Now, we’re gonna need to stick to a plan while we’re in there, for all our sakes. Loren, you and Alma need to be our lookouts. The Vex will have snipers up so you two will need to keep them off our backs.” Loren nods to his Ghost as he pulls out a sniper rifle. “Solis,” I continue, and the Eliksni watches me studiously. “You and Anixias are our muscle. We’ll need you two in the thick of it. Take out as many Vex as you can, and keep watch on the confluxes – if too many Vex sacrifice themselves to the confluxes, they’ll be able to change the timeline and we’ll all be screwed. And make sure none of the Fanatics hit you.” Solis nods to show that she understands, and growls my orders to Anixias as I turn to Kenedi. “You and I will be going after the Oracles.” “In order of tonal progression, yes?” Kenedi asks. I nod and his eyes light up. “Fascinating,” he mutters as he looks around. I ignore him though as I rise again and march forward, the others following suit, as we turn the corridor and enter a high platform, the Templar’s Well stretching out below us. Loren whistles low and long as he looks around at the emptiness. “This place is huge!” he groans. “Just find a spot high up and keep watch on those floating platforms,” I respond, pointing them out to him. He nods and starts climbing, Alma hovering up beside him. I turn back to the other three and nod, feigning confidence. “Here we go,” I tell them, and leap off the platform, down into the Well below. My feet crash down next to the Conflux and I immediately sense the Vex coming to life. “Kenedi, with me!” I cry, hoisting my rifle high. “Solis and Anixias, get ready!” We all take our positions as the ground begins to quake, enemy dots appearing all around us on my HUD. I spy the first Goblin teleporting in and hit the crystalline jewel embedded in its chest – Kenedi pops the next one. The ground rumbles again, and I hear Solis and Anixias roar nearby. “[i]WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?![/i]” Loren screams over the comm, but I keep my focus on killing the Vex – I already know what the Templar looks like. “Keep focused on the ground forces!” I shout to my team over the comm. “They’ll come in waves, Solis and Anixias, watch that Conflux! Don’t let the Vex get close to it!” They roar back to me over the comm and I spare a brief glance to see them hacking and slashing at the Vex with their blades, shooting in between slashes to decimate the machine waves – We quickly fall into a pattern, working surprisingly well – so well, in fact, that even I lose focus for a moment as a Hobgoblin clips me – I spin as I fall, aiming back at the creature, but its body shatters a half-second later. As I pull myself up, I spot Loren waving at me from a distance. “[i]What do we say?[/i]” he snickers over the comm. “To your left!” I shout back, and he whips the rifle over just in time to hit another Hobgoblin preparing to shoot him from the floating platforms. I’m already off and running before he can banter back, eyes on the Templar. “Ritual of Negation’s next!” I shout. “Anyone hit by the Fanatics?” A series of negatives answer me over the comm. “Then follow me!” I take off for the alcove, hearing Kenedi and the Eliksni pounding behind me. “Jump!” I yell as I leap into the raised alcove – I slide inside, watching the others follow me in as a bright flash of light pulsates outside. “Stranger, what is that?” Kenedi asks in awe. “Ritual of Negation,” I tell him. “If there’s Vex fluid on any of you, you’re marked for the Ritual. When the Templar performs it, you get pulled into a different timeline.” “Fascinating,” Kenedi answers breathlessly, poking his head out of the alcove to get a better look – he pulls it back in a second later as a Vex bolt ricochets off the wall next to him. I give him a look as the light dies down outside and I push them out to take on the next wave. We work our way through wave after wave, more Confluxes appearing as Oracles chime into existence – our team works exactly according to plan, Loren and Alma watching us from above as Solis and Anixias take out the Vex waves and Kenedi and I focus on ending the Oracles’ song. “Almost done!!” I cry, jubilation forcing its way into my voice unbidden. Not even in the simulations did the team perform this well, I almost wonder if – The ground rumbles once more. “It’s here!!” I cry and rush forward – in the center of the Well, bathed in a wreath of light, hovers the purpose of our quest, our entire reason for being here: The Aegis. The last known remnants of the Titan Kabr. Fingers trembling slightly, I reach into the light, staring up at the towering Templar defiantly, and claim the Aegis. “New strategy!” I bark over the comm as I back away, eyes still on the Templar. “Loren, Alma, jump down and stay close! The rest of you keep within sprinting distance, if any of the Vex touch you you’ll have to run to me immediately. Kenedi, keep focused on taking out any of the Oracles that appear, I’ll keep on the Harpies and the Templar’s shield!” “So what do the rest of us do?” Loren asks as he lands in the Well next to us. “Just shoot any Vex you see!” I bark back as the next waves mount and the team gets to work. We move fluidly, seamlessly, as though we’d been doing this forever – [i]Perhaps we have[/i], I can’t help but think, remembering the simulations. [i]Who knows how many times we’ve actually done this – how many times we’ve won, and how many times we’ve –[/i] A Harpy hits the wall right behind me, barely missing taking my helmet off – I swing the Aegis and smash it to pieces, regaining my focus and cursing myself for drifting. [i]Now is not the time for meditation[/i], I think seriously, swinging the Aegis at more Harpies, eyes flicking back and forth between them and the Templar. [i]Have to keep in the moment, have to break its shield –[/i] I mow down a wave of Harpies by slamming the Aegis into the ground and shout above the commotion, “I’m going to take the Templar’s shield down!! Prepare to fire as soon as it’s off!! No grenade or rockets, just shoot through the shield he binds you in!!” “[i]Wait, what?![/i]” Loren shouts over the comm as Solis and Anixias roar, but I’m already leaping into the air and bringing the Aegis down on the Templar’s shield – in that instant, smaller shields appear around us, and I smash through mine, turning back to the others quickly – Kenedi sheds his immediately and fires on the Templar – Solis is next, breaking through hers with sheer strength and helping to smash Anixias’ – only Loren and Alma remain, and I sprint toward them, sliding into them shield first, smashing the Aegis through their shield – In the next instant, we’re all firing on the Templar, squeezing triggers as fast as we can as it moans and squeals – “It’s gonna teleport!!” I shout to the team. “Get ready!!! Just keep doing what we just did and it’ll be over in no time!!” They follow my lead as the Templar teleports and we begin the cycle again – within a few rotations, the Templar grows weaker, sagging in midair as it finally succumbs to our onslaught – “Last shot!!” I cry as I leap forward, bringing the Aegis overhead, gathering momentum for the final attack – [i]This is always for you, Kabr,[/i] I think. [i]Every time this beast falls, it’s done in your name –[/i] I smash the Aegis into the Templar’s base, and hear the final shrill screech of victory – I bolt away to avoid the blast as the rest of my team hits the floor – with an earsplitting blast and squeal, the Templar vanishes, finally defeated, as I rise victorious with the Aegis in hand.