I have to apologize for the late chapter, first of all. The computer I usually use is gone, unfortunately. Hopefully this chapter will compensate! If you missed the last chapter, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/225624615]here[/url]. If you're looking for all the chapters, go to the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/222701511?sort=0&page=0]Table of Contents[/url]. Enjoy the chapter! I studied my new weapon as I walked toward the training room. A skull tied down to the head of the rifle, and strange triangular markings complimented the barrel. I had trained with the pulse rifle earlier, and it felt strong. The power in each burst ensured a kill; while I have not been outside of the ketch with it, I trusted my judgment. The Bad Juju was of fine making, and the creator of the schematic was even more brilliant. His name was Toland, also called "Shattered One" by the ones who knew him in exile. He went mad delving into the secrets of the Hive. The Warlock knew almost everything about them, and was banished from the City for what he spoke. He was said to die in the Hellmouth, but others say he lives. If he is alive, there is no other place he would be other than Crota’s throne world. But how? Even a man of his knowledge would have difficulty surviving against an endless onslaught, now after so long. Crota is dead now, but this happened long before that took place. I don’t know, it sounds like a lot of rumors and speculation has surrounded him. If he does live, he probably laughs at all the stuff that's been theorized. [i]The way this bad boy purrs is more to me than all of this Warlock madness [/i], I thought to myself. I enter the training room, and head for the controls to begin the simulation. I start off with the Hive, as they are fitting for what this weapon longs for. An AI system setting up the arena speaks. “Round one of Simulation: Hive, has begun.” Pixels begin to assimilate the creatures, and seven Thrall and five Acolytes appear. The shadows shriek and rush me while the atrocities fire their feign projectiles at me from the back. As the shrieking sims come closer, I gun them down and they deteriorate into nothingness. Each burst from the Bad Juju felt as smooth as the hull of the Teriks-syn. A poem is written every time a kill is acquired with it, even if they are just sims. The Juju tears through the Acolytes like it's nothing, as if wishing to end all existence. More Acolytes and Thrall appear, and I ready my finger for the pulse. Ten of the Thralls rush me, and I unload on them. Their pixels burst into nothingness. One of them gets close, and scratches me. It feels as real as real can get, but there is no mark. I hit the Thrall with my barrel then fire upon it, causing its deterioration. Barriers appear for the Acolytes to hide behind, but they would not last long. One of them peaked out, and it dropped in less than a second. Another jumped out boldly, and the pulse goes right into the pixelated head, and it bursts. The other three charge out courageously, and I reload my weapon. I come out from my cover and destroy them. My bullets penetrate their feign bodies, and their pixels burst and disappear. The AI announces, “Round two of Simulation: Hive has begun.” This round held Knights and Wizards. Terrible beasts of the dark and even simulations of them are difficult to fight. Three knights come: two armed with cleavers and one with a shredder. Following up the knights appear two of the blights of rag and bone. I get behind one of three barriers that appear. I fire on one of the wretched knights approaching the barrier that protected me from the fake shredder rounds. The first knight fell and the other continued rushing. It got behind the barrier, and tried to shove the cleaver right through me… literally. I evaded the pixelated blade, and the wizards rained their simulated arc blasts upon me. I aimed my pulse at one of the wizards and pulled the trigger, staggering it. I slid behind another barrier and turned around to fire on the pursuing knight. I shot many bursts into its head and finally killed it, and the beast dissipated. The other knight and two wizards were on the other side of the arena, waiting for me to pop my head out. I grab a grenade built specifically for the simulated arena, and tossed it out where they stood. The electric grenade destroyed the knight and hurt the wizards. I got out from the cover, aimed at one of them, and pressed my index finger against the trigger many times until it burst into a million pixels. I reloaded quickly, and the other was dead in seconds. “Well done. Round three of Simulation: Hive will begin shortly.” The raging beast we call ogre appears from the pixels. Even a simulation displayed its disgusting body, its ragged bone, and hateful scream so well. I do not know what power a real ogre calls upon when firing its wretched blast of void, but it was of exceptional energy. Abominations tortured from painful rituals, the ogres would go into a battlefield with hate of the Light. The Summoning Pits are home to many of them, and the Hive ready the horrid forms of life and death for invasion and battle. Even in a projection they are a fair fight. The protuberance shot feign blasts from its eye, so I dived behind a barrier. The assimilated blasts broke upon the pixelated cover that had been constructed. I tossed another grenade out and the groan of the ogre signified that it was a clean hit. I peeked out and fired a few rounds into the monsters eye. The brute was outraged, and began to charge me. I fired several rounds into its head, and when it got close, I slid right underneath it. Before the ogre could turn around, I threw a grenade at it, destroying what health was left. I stared at the Bad Juju wants again and thanked it silently, but before I knew it, a shriek came from behind me. A massive, pixelated hand went right through my body, and I turned around to see [i]another[/i] ogre. The simulation ended, and everything deteriorated. The kell says “Round over. User identity: Dennis Rager has lost.” I look at the computer’s controls with disdain, and cycle the system down. Just at that moment, Vesrik walks into the room. The kell’s hand is draped over is sword just about every time I see him. I bowed as the massive Fallen approached me. His gaze moved to me once I got up, and he offered a small smile from behind his ether mask. The kell says as he walks towards me, “Training with your new prize, yes? A strange weapon, beyond any doubt, but you say it is powerful. I hold by the belief that up close, a fist is far more potent than any gun.” I chuckle at Vesrik’s inquiry. I always like what he had to say, even if it was a death threat. Sometimes he would say to me, ‘I might see you tomorrow, I don’t know, I may kill you in the morning’, which still didn’t completely add up. I replied with, “The Bad Juju is a potent weapon. I have no complaints, besides the occasional green flame that spews from the barrel; not too much of a distraction, though.” “I see you have been training in the simulation room. Which arena did you choose this time?” I sighed. “Hive simulation. Third round was two ogres, but the second one didn’t appear until after the first was dead.” He simply laughs, and then walks over to a scorch cannon mounted on a wall. He takes it into his massive hands, and turns the simulation AI back on. The kell presses a few more buttons, and the same ogre that ended my round reappears. The monster sizes him up and roars. Vesrik fires a round from his scorch cannon and it attaches to the beasts’ eye. The ogre was puzzled, but kept charging him. I could tell that Vesrik had a massive smirk under his ether mask as he continued to hold down the trigger. The kell finally let go and the abomination exploded into a million pixels. The AI announced, “Very good, Scar Kell. Round four will begi-“. It was cut off by Vesrik cycling the computer down. He set the scorch cannon back where it was mounted on the wall. “You’re welcome”, he says, “and I do hope that comes in handy for the future. There is a difference between fighting the real battle and fighting a false one.” I look down at the weapon. “I just hope one day I will find Dredgen Rel, and crush him with it. He took me from my home, you know… and worse.” Vesrik looks at me with concern. “Do not bend yourself on this long-sought vengeance. I know what he did, but we must all focus on where we are and what we are doing.” I look him in the eyes with sorrow. “He took everything from me! My family, my home, and he didn’t stop there.” I remember everything about that day. He made me watch as he dragged her away and executed her with his notorious Thorn. He didn’t stop at the camp, and he would continue to carelessly kill. My kell knew the whole story. I have told him many times, and he will hear it many times again. “I will not pretend to know the full extent of Rel’s madness, but I do know you. I remember the day I found you on Earth, in the cold, running from his reach. I saw his soldiers try to assassinate you, and I slaughtered them all to protect someone who did not deserve such depravity brought upon them.” “I fought for your freedom, and I never asked for you to join me in [i]my[/i] crusade, but you did. I do not consider you below me as other kells would. I see you as a friend who I trust with my life. Don’t throw away your life to face an old demon. He is not like you, and you are unlike him. When he does die, it will be one of equal brutality as he has dealt.” Vesrik was right. All I have thought about ever since I got the Bad Juju was Dredgen Rel and his jagged weapon. I wanted vengeance, but I knew if I kept thinking about it, I would find my own death at the end of the road. Tears ran down my cheek, and my hulking friend embraced me.