Destiny: Legend Untold, Chpt 10 Pt 2

[u]Chapter Ten: Class Rank[/u] Part Two William!" I heard a voice call and looked up to see Sierra coming down the ramp to the main Hangar floor. I waved in response and smiled widely as she came over. "Get that stupid grin off your face, people will think we're friends," Sierra joked. "I say let them think what they want," I shrugged, still smiling. "Whatever. So who's member number three?" Sierra asked, looking to the Hunter standing in the shadowy corner. "Crag," he muttered, giving a polite yet clearly uncaring nod. "Sierra," she replied, picking up on the type of guy he was. Honestly she seemed like him, but way more hotheaded and bold compared to silently despising and secretive. It's a wonder she actually decided to become friends with me and Drew. The air had grown a little tense again as Crag sheathed his knives and began walking towards his ship. The ship was angular and short, wings going out in an X-shape that grew longer pointing forward and had several guns mounted, and it was mottled with very dark greens and blacks like his cloak and also bore near-black shades of brown. He pointed to the mouth of the Hangar as he walked with his back to us, signaling for me and Sierra to meet up outside in our ships. Sierra moved to her Phaeton Class v1 and I to my Aurora Lance. Within a couple minutes our ships were rocketing away from the Last City, Crag taking point. "Could you give us a heads up on our target location, Crag?" I asked, having just set up a com channel. It was silent for a moment before a male voice responded, but not Crag's. "No known name, but location is a couple dozen kilometers outside the City Wall. Easy for Fallen to use as a forward base if they take hold of it," the voice reported. "Are you Crag's Ghost?" I asked. "Yes," the Ghost answered simply. "Do you have a name?" I inquired further. "No," it stated. Yet somehow Crag's Ghost is more talkative than he is, I thought to myself, now concerned about how well this team would work together. Crag didn't seem like he would listen to what other people say much. Crag's ship began descending and we followed suit, keeping close behind as we passed through clouds in the blue sky. As we came down we could see a cluster of buildings located on some strategically higher ground. But only a few kilometers away, the top of some large vehicle could be seen pushing its way through the forestry, resembling the top of a tank. Flickers of red seen through the foliage identified the large group of Devils traveling with it. We set down near the enemy forces, putting ourselves between them and the outpost. If the Fallen started pushing us back, we would give ground bit by bit and make a last stand with the few soldiers that manned the outpost if it came down to it. After doing a quick reconnaissance of the forested area we transmatted down from our ships, Crag took position up in a tall tree that had a relatively clear view of the layout in front of us, Sierra went forward off to the left of the area from Crag's position and perspective, and I went forward and off to his right. Sierra and I both made sure we could see Crag on his perch so he could back us up with his sniper rifle, and that she and I were close enough together to assist if needed. I kept behind a couple of large rocks supporting one end of an old log that lay across a small stream, while Sierra kept a few thick trees between her and the path the Fallen would come down. As we lay in wait, I rested my back and head against one of the rocks and willed my left gauntlet to disappear, then dipped my hand into the stream, enjoying the cold and watching the way the water moved around my fingers. I steeled myself for the battle ahead; I couldn't avoid killing today. After a minute or so I heard the sound of something rustling in the underbrush behind me, then that of several creatures. I shook the water off my hand and willed my gauntlet back on, getting out my scout rifle in preparation. The sounds were coming from many sources in the foliage now, and it would not be long before the Fallen hoard was right on top of us. Something could now be heard pushing through some bushes several feet from my position, and I looked to Crag, his form almost indiscernible amongst the tree's leaves. His helmet covered his face and was completely shadowed by his hood anyway, but it was evident that he was staring straight back at me, the barrel of his rifle pointed at something just behind me. I nodded to him. The loud ring of Crag's rifle firing broke straight through the quiet of the woods, and all the rustling immediately stopped, making it easy to hear the body of Crag's victim thud onto the dirt. A faint trail of smoke hung in the air above my head from the bullet, and I heard the gaseous sound of consumed Ether escaping the new hole in the Fallen's face. I still found it interesting how the substance Fallen lived off of blew off their heads if they died from rounds to the head. For a few moments, all was silent. Then a Fallen cry sounded deeper in the trees and the rustling came back louder than before as the wave of red-clad aliens surged forward. Crag's sniper rifle let off a few more shots before he began to reload. That was our cue. My helm's motion tracker flashed with red all behind me, so I waited a couple of seconds for the sound of footsteps to reach my area and heard the scuff of feet pushing off to leap over the log and rocks around me. Legs uncoiling from their crouched position to launch me in a leap straight upwards, I twisted my body in midair and reached out my arm to grab whatever I met. As I came around one hundred eighty degrees from where I had been facing at first, my grasp wrapped around one of the lower arms of a Vandal that had been jumping through the air behind me. My body continued to turn through the air and I now dragged the Vandal through the air, away from its original course. Once I had completed the full turn, I brought my arm down and slammed the Fallen onto the ground with a solid thump. It lay there, dazed and in pain on the ground it had been so roughly thrown onto, and I leveled the barrel of my scout rifle at its head. I averted my eyes before pulling the trigger and heard the sigh of Ether shooting out of the body following the sound of my shot. Out of the corner of my vision I saw Sierra lunge out from behind a tree and cut down a couple Dreg with her knife, then switched to using her hand cannon on the Fallen as they came. A few blue bolts from shock pistols flew past my head and I turned to the Fallen that had seen me take down their ally. Using the rocks and log as cover, I quickly shot down every Fallen unit that came into sight with deadly accuracy. But for each body that fell, spewing Ether from where the bases of their necks used to be, still more came rushing from the undergrowth. A Captain emerged from the trees, wielding a Shrapnel Launcher and watching the fight from behind a few Vandals. If Crag wasn't so busy taking on Vandals with Wire Rifles he probably would've handled the Captain, but fate would have it that the Captain sat unbothered until it noticed me bunkered down behind my rock. It prowled towards me, watching me take out its charges as they tried to rush my position, but I could only cast an occasional glance towards it, unable to take the time to aim at anything further away from me. My clip ran dry and I began to reload. The Captain saw its chance and charged. As it got closer I finished reloading and began unloading on its shield, slowly breaking it down. But before the shield broke, it used the short-range displacement device that all Captains had equipped in their armor and teleported several feet closer to me, now jumping over the obstacles between us. With its lower arms, it grabbed my gun with one hand and my opposite arm with the other, holding me still as it pointed the maw of its Shrapnel Launcher at my face with its upper arms. Fire spewed a short ways out of the gun's four barrels from the heat inside that was used to set the shrapnel aflame, lapping against my helmet's visor. ________________________________ Link to Chpt 10 Pt 1:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217491857/0/0 Link to Chpt 10 Pt 3:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217494246/0/0 Link to ToC:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0