[i]There is an important announcement at the end of this chapter[/i] Hi everyone, sry for taking forever to finish a chapter yet again. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed their time with loved ones and thought of what u r thankful for. I am thankful for all of u that support my writing and encourage me to continue. But I'll quit talking so u can get reading. Enjoy! [u]Chapter Eleven: One Small Step for William, a Giant Tumble for Drew[/u] Part One "You're a what?!" Drew exclaimed. The third member of our fireteam had finally returned from his long assignment to defend the wall, and we had automatically been assigned another mission. Our three ships now rocketed through space at warp speed; it was my first time leaving the Earth's atmosphere. We now exchanged stories of our ventures since we hadn't been allowed to communicate with each other while Drew had been on mission. I had just wrapped up my story of fighting the Devils with Sierra and Crag. "A Defender Titan," I repeated. The channel was silent for a moment before Drew let out a loud whoop of excitement. "YES! Booyah! My bro is a Titan!" He yelled happily, "And a Baron-slayer to boot! You are a kinder-Gaurdian no more!" "Calm down there buddy," I laughed, "I don't want an ear bleed." Drew began laughing, too, but we both hushed immediately upon hearing another voice enter the conversation. "Congratulations William," Sally said, her joy only barely detectable through her quiet and quivering voice, "I hope you are adjusting well to your new placement." We had all learned to grow silent on the rare occasions when Sally spoke, for it was usually important and always hard to hear. "Thank you Sally," I replied kindly. "So did ya hear what our Rasputin-awakening friend did?" Drew asked. "You mean besides going to the Moon by himself and kicking the anthill for us to take care of?" I sighed. That same Guardian who had discovered the Hive on Earth and that Rasputin still lived had just yesterday gone on a trip to the Moon. He had been responding to the distress signal of a Titan that had gone to scout the Moon days prior, and upon arrival had instantly gone into combat against the Fallen occupying a small area of the Moon's surface. Afterwards, he had discovered the corpse of the Titan and his dead Ghost at the Hive's front door and started yet another fight. Now the Hive and Fallen were scurrying around to make sure no more Guardians were sneaking around, and that left my fire team to place beacons, establish a transmat zone, and create a beachhead on the Moon, all the while fending off more enemies than would have been necessary if a bit more care had been taken. That was why we were hurtling through space at warp speed; we were heading towards Earth's moon, Luna, to establish an area for other Guardians to fly in and take back what was once ours. "Yeah besides that," Drew went on, "He apparently got selected by the Vanguard to go see what damage he could do in the Devil's main base, and he took a Warlock and a Hunter with him and BLEW UP SEPIKS PRIME!" "Wait, he did WHAT?" I inquired. After the battle against the Baron, I had started brushing up on Fallen ranking and learned quite a bit about how their system worked. Dreg were at the bottom, their lower arms docked to shame them and always striving to prove themselves worthy of earning prosthetic limbs to replace those they lost. Shanks were simply just machines built for combat and tech repair. Vandals were the basic unit, all decent soldiers. Captains rose up from the Vandals and ruthlessly commanded those under them. Servitors were something I hadn't encountered yet, and are large hovering spheres that pilot ships, interact with computer systems, and turn matter into the Fallen's source of sustenance, called Ether. Most Servitors were leftover from a time before the Fallen were scavengers, as the Walkers were, but Servitors could be rebuilt more easily and were treated almost sacredly because of their ability to sustain Fallen life. Barons were Captains who had lived long enough to get thousands of kills, Archons were basically religious leaders and communicate with the Prime Servitor, which is the most powerful Servitor in the House that controls all other Servitors and is typically treated as a god. Each House is led by a Kell, who passes orders to the Archon and Servitor to command his forces. I should really take more breaks from my books... "They shot a bunch of bullets into that giant floating eyeball, and it BLEW UP," Drew explained more slowly, "Bye bye robot ball." "Dang, the House of Devils will be crippled," I said in awe, "Wait, he had a fireteam?" "That's right, mister too-introverted-to-tell-anyone-his-name got a couple of buddies to help him fight," Drew replied. "Did his fireteam accompany him to the Moon?" I inquired. "Nope, it was just him. I still can't believe the Vanguard chose to send that kinder-Guardian to attack the Devil's lair instead of the seasoned Titan who's been begging to go break stuff in there," Drew complained. "Don't worry, my eager friend, there'll be plenty of stuff to break on the Moon, and no one to steal your kills," I assured him, "No one else will be on the Moon besides Hunters and Warlocks sent to scout and gather intel, and they're not going to be engaging in combat like us." "Can't wait," Drew said excitedly. "Hush up, Drew," Sierra cut in, "I'm getting tired of hearing your warmongering idiocy and William's nerd rants." "Hah! She called you a nerd William!" Drew laughed. "That's a compliment Drew, it means I like to learn," I told him. "That's not how I learned it," Drew mumbled confusedly, "I like warmongering, it has "war" in it. What does it mean?" "It means you like to start fights," I explained. "THE ONLY FUTURE IS WAR!" Drew bellowed suddenly. Yet another Future War Cult slogan. "Ugh! Men!" Sierra groaned. "And what does idiocy mean?" Drew asked, genuinely ignorant, "Does it also involve hitting things?" Silence ensued; neither Sierra nor I could respond. Drew's vocabulary was smaller than expected. "Well?" The Exo prodded. "Whoever built your body really didn't want whoever operated it to question orders or think about anything but violence," Sierra finally said. "Yes! Violence means fighting! Idiocy involves hitting things!" Drew shouted happily. "I can't believe you," Sierra sighed. "Just let him be," I said with a sigh as well. "He knows most of the essential terminology required as a Guardian," Sally defended Drew timidly. "What are your guys talking about?" Drew inquired as he finished cheering about knowing what violence meant. "Just about how smart you are," Sally told him. "Yeah, I am pretty smart," he replied proudly. Our ships exited warp speed at that moment and the blur of blue, white, and black around us focused to reveal the Moon and its orbiting satellites before us. "Thank the Traveler!" Sierra exclaimed upon feeling her ship slow and seeing the Moon, "I wouldn't have survived another minute of flying with you two!" "You know you love us," I chuckled deviously. "She loves you two so much, I'm surprised she hasn't tried to sleep with either of you," John cackled. "John!" Sierra warned. "Sierra, I only like you as a friend," Drew told her seriously. That made Sierra growl angrily while John and I laughed hysterically, leaving Drew confused. Our ships finally came down to the surface, hovering several meters above the dusty, grey rocks. We transmatted out, moon dust puffing up wherever our feet touched. As the three ships flew away, I took another glance at Drew's vehicle. He had earned it from the Future War Cult, of course, and its purple, gold, and red paint job stood out brightly against the dark backdrop of space beyond the Moon. I shook my head in bewilderment at Drew's love of the Faction that even he knew near nothing about and of that color scheme. This was the spot that the other Guardian had reported he had landed at, and we shoved a marker down into the ground where we currently stood. It would mark off this spot to other Guardians as a clear place to land. We began walking uphill on the slope that lay before the landing zone and kept our guns at hand. At the top of the slope we spotted the old outpost that had been included in our briefing to our left. That facility had been cleared by the Titan that had died on his scouting mission up here, but the Guardian who had come here after him had found the old building to be crawling with Fallen once again. From the facility stretched an old electric line, running parallel to the ground a dozen meters above. Continuing to move forward, we walked to one of the supporting bases along the line's length. At the base, we planted a beacon down into the ground. After a moment, a green light at the head of the small metal device began blinking on and off, signaling that it was secure and had a connection. These beacons were used to send messages to Guardians patrolling the Moon and notify them of bounties and tasks that needed to be performed. _____________________________________ Link to Chpt 10 Pt 8:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217498480/0/0 Link to Chpt 11 Pt 2:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/219174355/0/0 Link to ToC:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0