Echoes Chapter 1 (Part I): The Beginning Of The End

[i]"It's quiet now. They are all quiet. My fireteam, the hive...even her voice is gone. I am weak and tired. My light is draining from me, and I don't know what to do or where to go. Am I dead or am I alive? The latter of the two is the worst, that means this hell is reality. The temperature is dropping. No, that's my adrenaline. Either way, the cold is seeping into my bones. What do I find myself doing? Counting back the moments that have lead up to this. It all started with that wizard...that fiend.."[/i] The sun fell behind the moon's horizon as he watched the chasm grow darker with each passing minute. His target was Thera. Even to the Hive, this wizard was nothing special. Though, to Archangel, she was what he hated most at the time. As he pondered his reasons for wanting her dead, aside from the fact that she was part of an alien race hell-bent on the extinction of humanity, there was a low rumble along the chasm floor. He set up his sniper, what he called his Lance, and scoped in the tunnel entrance. As if on queue, the massive door began to open. First came the thrall, screeching and screaming into the darkness. Archangel felt pity for these creatures. The thrall were the lowest of the low in the Hive hierarchy. The grunts, the footsoldiers, the cannon fodder. Behind the thrall came the acolytes to usher them forward. Soon followed the knights, tall and lethal, carrying giant blades on their shoulders. Lastly, as he expected, out flew the wizards. There were five of them in total. Thera, his target, and her escort. This particular group of Hive were clothed and painted in black, hence their name "The Black Death". [i]"Now that I think about it, it's kind of ironic. I wonder if they knew of earth's history, or if that name was some sick coincidence." [/i] Slowly, he centered his scope's crosshairs on Thera's head. As he tracked her movements, all he could think of was sending a bullet through her skull. Two years had gone by since that bloody night, and now his friends...his family...would finally be avenged. His finger tightened around the trigger as Thera screeched at one of her escorts. "Say goodnight you bi-.." His words were cut short by the retort of his sniper. It happened in an instant. A half second after he fired, one of the knight's snapped its head up. Faster than Archangel had ever seen a Hive move, it shot its arm upward and summoned a pitch black wall of darkness that spread to encompass the knights and the wizards safely behind it. His bullet was swallowed instantly by the dark barrier. Archangel hesitated, shocked at what had just happened. Before he could react, the sounds of screeching filled his ears. Not of thrall, not even of wizards. He looked over his shoulder to see three tombships materializing from portals behind him. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/116106337/0/0]Chapter 1 (Part II): Ambush[/url] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/116661010/0/0]Chapter 1 (Part III):Agonizing Memories[/url]