Doc walked to the edge of the ruined wall. The pyramids had fled hours ago, leaving the city completely ruined. The Traveler had moved out over an open plain, and floated there, a silent watcher. Doc stared at the devastated city, looking through the smoke of the almost dead fires obscuring the rubble. He slid down a pile of what used to be part of the wall, stopping with a loud thump. The armor Seeker had made for him was patchy, made entirely from scavenged metal around where he had been found. It should have been heavy, all that metal pressing down on his frame. Even an Exo should have been hard pressed to lift it, but Doc moved almost gracefully, especially considering that he was essentially a moving pile of rubble. He held his rifle low, ready to bring it up at a moment's notice, but still relaxed, giving off an air of authority. The few survivors he passed huddled as far away from him as they could on the narrow streets, streaked in dust and clothed in rags. Doc didn't mind the stares he drew, something about it seemed familiar, almost... expected. A loud, rippling sound rang through the city. Doc ducked against a wall, combat instincts he didn't know he had kicking in. Overhead, he saw an odd object cruising towards the city. Vaguely triangular, it had rounded edges and engines. Doc had never seen anything like it, and he could feel Seeker's perplexity. Whatever this was, it was new. He stared as several other odd objects flew out of the first vehicle. These were considerably smaller, but Doc could see the turrets on their undersides, and could hazard a guess as to what the openings on the bottom were for as well. One of the ships cruised over to where he was, hovering over a street near him. He saw odd creatures drop out of it, humanoid but distinctly different than anything he knew. Most of them had two arms, but two had four, and those two were slightly larger than the others. They waved their arms, speaking in an odd language. Seeker hovered next to Doc, then spoke. "These things... I believe they are hostile. But we should scan them, categorize them. We need to know more about them." One of the smaller ones looked over at that moment, giving off a blood curdling scream. All of the creatures turned, staring at Seeker. They seemed puzzled, but drew their weapons and fired. Seeker ducked behind cover, the bolts sizzling on the wall where he was. Doc stood up, firing with wild abandon at the creatures. Several fell after receiving multiple rounds to the chest. One of the smaller ones leaned back and hurled a glowing rod at where Doc was. It exploded, tossing Doc backwards into a wall. He growled, then threw himself into a run in the direction of the creatures, releasing a deep throated roar as he flew hurtled towards them, his heavy steps echoing off of the walls. The creatures started in surprise before unleashing a hail of energy, trying to take him down before he reached them. Each shot hit him, but nothing could stop his momentum. He rammed his shoulder into the first one he reached, slamming it against the wall as he felt its chest cave in. He spun, smashing his fist into the skull of another one before throwing it into its remaining companion. He stopped, taking a deep breath to calm himself. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain through his chest. He looked down to see a smooth piece of metal sticking out of his chest, covered in oil. He dropped to his knees, and the last of the aliens walked in front of him. The last thing he heard was its crow of triumph before everything went black. ------ His eyes snapped open as he dropped to the ground. The creature that had killed him turned, its eyes widening in what seemed like shock. Its hands scrambled for a weapon as Doc grabbed it by the throat and smashed his head into its skull, smashing it to a pulp. He dropped the thing, then staggered back against a wall, feeling at his chest with his hands. There was no hole, no oil, just a smooth surface. Seeker floated into view, a light emitting from his sensor as he scanned the dead bodies. "Fascinating. These creatures have a way of writing. It looks to be standardized, and I think I can translate some of them." Doc looked at Seeker. "What were these things? And why am I not dead?" Seeker bobbed, sounding puzzled. "Well, I revived you, which is why you're not dead. But as for these... things... I have no idea. But these two armed ones appear to be the lowest class. And the four arms were vandalizing these buildings! How can these things have a way of writing but be so uncivilized?" Doc smiled. "Maybe we've got names for these things. The lowest class is the Dregs of their society, these higher class ones are Vandals and should be called that. And since their society is uncivilized, they're clearly Fallen." Seeker bobbed, then bobbed again. "Oh fine. I do detest naming things based on wordplay though. Seriously, would you name a person based on that?" Doc chuckled, picking up the sword that had killed him as well as a weapon that looked vaguely similar to a pistol. He also grabbed a bandolier of the grenades that the Dregs had. He tore a strip from one Vandal's cloak, tying it into a makeshift scabbard and holster, then put on the bandolier and the other Vandal's cloak. "Well, at least they've got a bit of style. This is a nice red color they used." Seeker shifted in what looked like his version of shaking his head in disappointment. Doc laughed, then started walking towards the wall. He'd find an opening, and get out of this city. There was nothing here for him, and the wild held all sorts of promise.