Greeting, Guardians, here's part thirty-three of the Journey Home! So, sorry about the cliffhanger last time - it was a little mean, in retrospect. In any case, here's pa[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/228692754?showBanned=0&path=0]rt thirty-two[/url] if you missed it, or, if you're looking for a different part, here's the[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/222615264?showBanned=0&path=0] table of contents! [/url]As usual, if you like it, give it a bump, and I'll get more out soon. Stay classy, Guardians! Alesha stared up at the blade. Is this it? she wondered. [i]The monster advanced on her, holding its fearsome daggers. There was no pity or remorse behind those soulless blue eyes - just a pure, unfathomable pit of rage. Suddenly, her father grabbed the monster’s leg, and yanked it down to the ground. Before it could react, he took the dagger from its hands, and plunged it into the monster’s back.[/i] Erling stared at her with a look of helplessness. Suddenly, a look of determination settled into his eyes. “Get ready to run,” he said. And with that, he pushed his head forwards, cutting his throat open on the blade. “No!” Alesha shouted. The Captain was startled, and let Erling’s corpse fall to the ground. It landed facedown in the earth. The Vandal paused, confused, its saber in midair. Suddenly, Erling’s ghost appeared above the corpse. It looked at her with one glowing blue eye, and then looked down at the body. It flashed briefly as the triangles making up it’s shell expanded outwards, leaving a small orb in the center. Then, the ghost disappeared. Erling shot upwards, his neck-wound now healed, but still caked with blood. Without so much as a second thought, he grabbed the dagger that had been pinning him down, ripped it out of his leg, and threw it at the Vandal who’d been about to kill Alesha. The alien collapsed to the ground, the blade embedded between its eyes. Erling grabbed the Captain by its shoulders, and threw it over his head, sending the Fallen tumbling into his underlings. Then, he grabbed his hand cannon from the ground, and reloaded as the remaining Fallen opened fire. Erling was unfazed by the bright blue flashes all around him. He fired off his weapon, and spared one last look at Alesha. “Run!” he shouted. The words broke the spell that had lain over Alesha. She scrambled up, and ran into the forest. Alesha didn’t look back as the sounds of battle faded into the background. She barely even looked forwards, not caring where she was going. All she cared about was what she was running from. [i] Her father stood up from the twitching monster, and stumbled over to her. Despite the obvious pain it caused him, he bent down, and picked up Alesha. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Daddy’s got you.” And with that, they walked into the burning hallway. [/i] Alesha was so caught up the memory, so caught up in what she was fleeing from, that she didn’t see the hulking figure in front of her. She ran into the shadowy figure, fell back to the ground. Shaking her head, she looked up at the thing. The first thing that registered was the massive gun in its hands. * * * Tyksis sat up, and shook his head, trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. He looked up. The Guardian was wreaking havoc among his Eliksni. Already, eight had fallen. However, even as he watched, the Guardian fell, a single wound in its head. Then the orb reappeared, and the Guardian sprung back up. He grabbed one of the Vandals by the neck, and crushed its throat. Tyksis growled as the Vandal fell to the ground, suffocating. How can I defeat an enemy that refuses to die! Suddenly, an idea came to him. Perhaps I do not kill it. Not at first, anyways. Tyksis crouched low to the ground, avoiding putting wait on his injured arm. Then, he sprang forwards, and leaped on the Guardian’s back. The Guardian fell forwards, face-planting in the dirt. Not wasting so much as a second, Tyksis grabbed one of the Guardian’s arms with two of his uninjured arms, and snapped it. He felt the bones break beneath the armor and flesh. The Guardian howled with pain, but Tyksis payed it no heed. Instead, he repeated the process with the other arm. Once he was sure that the Guardian was incapacitated, he stood up. He kept one foot firmly planted on the Guardian’s back. He looked to one of the dregs. “Your weapon,” he growled. The dreg quickly tossed him a shock pistol. He pointed it at the Guardian’s back, waiting for the blue orb to appear. But it didn’t. For a long moment, the only sounds were of the battle that surrounded them, the Guardian’s pained moans, and Tyksis’s labored breathing. Finally Tyksis pointed the shock pistol at the back of the Guardian’s head. “Time to die, Guardian,” he growled. “But. . . sir,” one of the Vandals said. “If you kill him, won’t he just. . . come back?” “Whenever he dies, that damned orb appears,” Tyksis said. “When it appears, shoot it - and he’ll be dead for good.” The Vandal nodded uneasily. He took aim over the Guardian’s chest with his wire rifle. . . when suddenly, there was a loud bang, his head disappeared, ether gushing out of his truncated neck. Tyksis looked in the direction of the bang, and his jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Running towards him was a squad of Guardians - at least twenty. Some wore long cloaks that billowed in the wind, while others wore loose robes. Some wore a more bulky armor, with fabric sashes strung about their waists. But all carried weapons in their hands, and all were preparing to fire. Tyksis jumped behind a nearby tree, just as the Guardians let loose with a barrage of bullets. Most of his Eliksni fell instantly, cut down by Guardian bullets. Tyksis ran into the woods, hoping to rendezvous with his other forces. He quickly ran into a dreg, who saluted. “Sir!” the dreg said. “We’re being overrun by the Guardians!” “I noticed!” Tyksis growled. “Fight them!” “We can’t!” the dreg shouted. “There’s at least fifty, and they’re smashing through our lines! We can’t hold them back!” Tyksis stared in the direction of the weapons fire. After a long moment, he growled, and shook his head. “Pull back,” he said. “Pull back to the mountain pass.” The dreg nodded, and ran off to spread the word. Tyksis spared one last look back at the battle, and fled. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/228931878/0/0]Part thirty-three: Down Came the Rain[/url]