Read the rest of the story here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15ew1g89oxjEj5mZRFvv94Ht2Td6lVWkc-Lk7nwplUgg You can use the tag as well, but not all chapters are on the forums. [b]Chapter 9[/b] “Miskor! Kill that lightbearer at all costs! Kill him! I’ll see you afterwards, I promise! Just get ridda that lightbearer!” Spekris’ voice blasted into Miskor’s head, filling the Fallen with fright. The frail vandal tapped a claw on the hull of the skiff, restless. “Spekris… they killed him… they killed Spekris… what do I do?” Miskor clutched his head with his upper hands. Uncertainty filled his mind. “But… I must do it for Tivik. I must ensure that we meet Gourn undetected. That is our mission.” He shakily motioned the two other Eliksni in the bay toward the ceiling. They nodded, and began to crawl up after shutting the lights off, plunging the room into darkness. - “Lacer, what’s your status?” Zahir demanded, watching the massive forest stream by below him. No response. Lacer’s comms responded with a light crackle. Zahir contemplated his options, still clutching the skiff’s roof tight. He had gotten used to the wind blasting against him. The vandal that Lacer had taken off was screaming in Eliksni after yelling at the titan. He had definitely told the other Fallen on the skiff what was going on. As he reached his conclusion, he heard a feeble metallic whine near his feet. Before he could look over, a thin pair of hands grabbed his ankles and shook, attempting to wrestle him off of the skiff. He fought back against the surprise, kicking at the spindly arms. They retreated, but not before reaching for the hatch. “I’ll fall for sure if I don’t stop these guys.” Zahir concluded, letting go of the skiff. As he plummeted backward, he took hold of the open hatch, forcing it open. The hatch door broke the ship’s cloak, revealing a dark pit in the sky. The hinge began to burst under his weight. He stuck his other arm forward and into the skiff, just as the hinge came loose, bumping against his armor before sailing off into the air. He grimaced and hauled himself inside the dark interior. “No no no no! He’s here, Spekris, he’s here!” Miskor whispered, to no answer. He became more and more frightened as he heard the titan gather his bearings. Miskor attempted to calm his breathing as his cloak began to crawl over his body. “I can do this… I must do this… I can do this… I must do this…” He looked around the dark room for his comrades. The telltale flash of blue signalled the activation of their cloaks. “Over there!” Crucius called, pinging a console at the front of the bay, the only source of light beside the faint orange of the setting sun through the hole in the skiff. Zahir bolted for the screen, already forgetting about the Fallen among him. A sharp pain shot down his back, following the hollow thud of a shrapnel launcher. Zahir struggled up, drawing his pulse rifle. He let several bursts rattle the hull of the skiff. Frustrated, he began to collect arc energy in his palm. “Don’t!” Crucius yelled, “If you use your light, this skiff’s definitely going down!” “Who said I was throwing a grenade?” Zahir raised his hand high, filling the dark room with light. With newfound vision, he could very faintly see two blurred outlines. With his free hand, he let four bursts off, killing a Vandal. “Shotgun!” Zahir called to Crucius, and he felt its familiar grip replace the rifle in his hand. A buckshot tore into the second vandal, and it screeched in pain as it tumbled to the back of the skiff. “That’s it, then.” Zahir concluded, letting Crucius out at the console. Mere seconds after Crucius began his scan, he called out “Crucius! Come back!” Confused, the ghost disappeared, just as Zahir was knocked aside by an invisible force. “There was another one… his cloak must be really strong, I couldn’t see it.” Zahir attempted to pull himself up, but was knocked down by the blasts of a shrapnel launcher. He drew his shotgun, shooting all around the room, but hit nothing. The shots stopped, lending him time to recover. He slowly stood up, confused, and loaded more shells into his shotgun. “Why would he stop-“ Crucius began, but was interrupted by the whine of several barrels of gas. “Oh.” “Wizard poison…” Zahir groaned, moving forward. “This isn’t good, he’ll kill us if I don’t find him.” “I should have released the gas earlier… the light bearer would be dead by now.” Miskor thought, staring from the ceiling. “No matter, though this is my first time. I will succeed, Tivik trusts me. Spekris trusts me.” He watched as the titan frantically looked around. “I just have to wait, and swoop in to kill the ghost.” A stray whiff of poison crawled up to Miskor, causing him to choke. “What? Why am I being afflicted by-“ Miskor hastily clawed at his mask. “No no no! I forgot my gas mask!” He began to tremble. “Spekris, I’m sorry! I am a fool!” He shook his head. “No, there is no time to panic, I must adapt if I want to live. The crew is counting on me.” He began to inch toward the head of the skiff, covering his mouth. “All I have to do is get the titan off the ship, right?” He slunk down to the console, clutching a lever. “Then I will! If I can’t get rid of a single lightbearer, what am I?” He pulled with all his might, and light began to flood the skiff from the troop bay. The air around him began to swirl, pulling him toward the bottom of the skiff. He held the lever tight. “What?” Zahir exclaimed, being thrust backward by the sudden pull of wind that pulled the poison away. As he was flung toward the light, he saw the faint shimmer of a Fallen figure ahead of him. Miskor dug a blade into the floor, securing his position. “The lightbearer must be gone by now.” He concluded, seeing no trace of the titan behind him. He hauled the lever back up, closing the bay and stopping the wind. He sighed as he brought the blade out. “I did it, Spekris… I did it! I won! I was unable to kill him, but I won!” He activated the lights in the interior of the skiff once more. He saw bullet holes riddling the walls around him as a product of his struggle. Spekris’ static muffled voice finally answered, relieving the Eliksni. “That’s good, Miskor. I’m pretty sure I got this under control, but come over here and regroup. I’ve got the lightbearer trapped in the forest. There’s no way he’s getting outta this alive.” Miskor sighed. Everything would be alright. As Miskor approached the console, a flash of light behind him caught his eye. He whipped around, and the titan appeared before him, materializing out of thin air. Miskor’s body froze in panic. “You really put me through hell back there, making me kill myself to stay hidden and on the ship.” Zahir clutched his regenerating arm, raising it and pointing a newly forming finger at the Eliksni. “All I need to do is kill you, and I’ll know exactly where you get your Cabal arms.” Through his fear, Miskor calmed himself with his hope. He would get out of this skiff alive. He would regroup with Spekris, and the crew would be alright. Silence filled the hull, occasionally broken by the wind passing by. His claw darted toward the console as Zahir drew his shotgun. As Miskor made his inputs, the ship lurched forward. Zahir fell forward, past the console that Miskor had held tight to. “What the hell is he doing?” Zahir asked, his body in a tangle. “We’re beginning to lose altitude. He’s making the ship go into a full nosedive downward.” Crucius answered. “We can’t let the ship crash, we need to know where it’s headed!” Zahir began to float upward, propelled by the shift in speed. He eventually hit the end of the skiff, unable to move. He saw the troop by open once more, and the Eliksni began to crawl out. “Not so fast,” he called out, his pulse rifle in hand. He dragged the rifle across the wall, landing a burst near the vandal’s chest. Miskor howled in pain and leapt out, leaving Zahir in the falling skiff.