Blank Slate Ch.10: Overwhelmed

Table of Contents https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/225386550/0/0 My back hit the ground and a weight pressed heavily against me. I looked up into the eyes of a Fallen wearing blue armor and wielding two shock blades. It dropped to one knee and swung the blade in its right hand down at me. I caught its wrist. "Tags popping up," Blanc said, "That's a Winter Baroness named-" I stopped listening as the Baroness stabbed me in the stomach with its left shock blade. Pain and electricity coursed through me. I kicked the leg she was supporting herself with, and she fell, catching herself just above me by planting her lower two arms on the ground. The blade pressed harder into me. I rammed my helmet into her's, but her armor was thick, and she was strong from her large ether rations. I tried throwing her off, but she struggled over me. We remained locked together, my arms occupied with holding two of hers, and her other two holding her up. "I got ya, red," a Guardian muttered on the comms, concentrating. With a loud, ringing bang, a sniper shot struck the Baroness' shoulder. I pushed as she recoiled, and she fell onto her side. I stood, the shock blade slipping out of me and clattering to the ground. My Light began healing the wound. The Baroness began standing as well. The radar on my visor's HUD flashed red, and I looked to the side. A Vandal was running towards me, but the sniper rifle fired again. The Vandal's lifeless body fell and tumbled. At the sound of the gun, the Baroness ducked. I took my chance and dived onto her, knocking her second sword out of her hand. I planted my right hand firmly on her face, over her ether mask, and my left between her two right arms, pinning them. She reached up with one left arm and grabbed my neck, but Exos didn't need to breath, and my Guardian Exo neck was too strong to crush. She moved her other left arm as much as she could under me and tried punching and pushing me off, but I didn't budge. Bolts from Fallen guns started to spray my back and the ground around me. I began using Energy Drain on the Baroness. Her chest plate and ether mask crumbled under my hands, and purple wisps of Void energy danced around them. I pulled in more energy, feeling empowered as the Baroness' eyes widened and she tightened her grip on my throat. The ether mask broke away, and her chest plate fell apart. I slammed my hand down as hard as I could on her face, and she vanished in a cloud of Void wisps. I stood slowly, the purple swirls rising with me as they twirled through the air and disappeared. "My gosh," the sniper murmured, "Warlocks are scary..." I looked to the Walker. It's remains lay scattered where I had knocked it down and the other Guardians had finished it off. An Arc bolt from a Fallen sniper clipped my arm, and I looked to the tree line. A red swarm of Devils, mixed with the occasional blue of Winter, was rushing out of the woods. "The Baroness must have been leading a strike while everyone was distracted with Twilight Gap," a Ghost analyzed. "Who cares?!" someone yelled, "Light 'em up!" Gunfire met the Fallen charge. "Get to cover, KS!" Salem called. I ran, Arc bolts peppering my armor and everything in the clearing, and dived behind a tree. The Devil You Know materialized in my hand and I turned towards the Fallen. • • • There were too many. The charge had pushed us all the way back to the wall. A Titan had been overwhelmed and his Ghost died with him. Reports on the comms told us Twilight Gap was getting hit hard and we'd lost large amounts of the walls. The Fallen hadn't made it into the Last City, thankfully. We'd run low on ammo again. The Defender and KS stood at the base of the wall with a Striker Titan. The Striker had resorted to fighting the Fallen with Arc-charged punches, electricity crackling around him. KS and the Defender were off to the sides, mostly using their shotguns to ward off the assault. I was perched on the wall with the others, providing cover fire and suppressing the charging Devils. All together, there were thirteen of us. Every other Guardian in the city was defending the rest of the walls and trying to retake the areas that had been lost. The Fallen weren't pressing as hard as when they charged, but they were still pushing us back. [i]At this rate, they'll push us off the wall,[/i] I thought. [i]You gotta think positive, Salem,[/i] part of me consoled, [i]They're dying in droves down there, at least. They'll run out of bodies to throw at us, eventually. Eventually might be too late. You can be such a buzzkill. Go hug a tree, Captain Positive. You do realize I am you. You suck. You really suck. Go die. That'll be easy, the way this fight is going. Ha! Who's a buzzkill now?! Still you. I'm you, remember? Those isolated scouting missions are starting to affect me... What do you think I've been trying to tell you?[/i] I returned my focus to defending the wall. KS had apparently run out of shotgun ammo, and had pulled out his machine gun. He swept it across his field of vision, a spray of bullets beating back the Devils. I looked to the Striker. A Captain had led a charge to him, and he leaped forward, Arc energy pouring out of him. He smashed his fists on the ground, releasing a devastating sphere of Arc. Every Fallen close to him disintegrated in the attack, called a Fist of Havoc by Guardians. The Defender had managed to get some breathing room, and was using quick bursts of bullets from a pulse rifle to keep them away. I looked back to KS. He'd used up the belt of bullets in his machine gun. Not having enough time to reload the bulky weapon, he tossed it to the side. It transmatted into his Inventory as he raised his hands, apparently out of ammo for all his other guns. He began using his Palm to launch away the closest Fallen. My gaze shifted to the Striker again, who was now neck-deep in Devils, fists flying and electricity snapping. I heard a grunt from KS, interrupting the weary silence on our comms, and snapped my head back to him. A Vandal's shock blade stuck through his abdomen as he dissolved its owner into a plume of Void residue. Taking its chance, a Dreg stabbed his chest with a shock dagger. He hit it with a Palm, launching it into other Fallen, then began pulling out the dagger. A blue bolt of Arc shot across the clearing and nailed KS in the head, causing it to snap to the side. Another Vandal leapt onto KS, blades swinging. As its swords cut into his throat, his arm shot up into its face, stabbing it with the Dreg's dagger. They both collapsed. "Guardian down!" a Ghost announced. The Guardian closest to me, a female Hunter, leaped from her perch towards KS. As she fell, she threw out her arms. She activated the Hunter blade trance. Arc Light danced over her armor as two large knives made of Arc appeared in her hands. Quickly, I dropped from my spot and did the same, crackling with electricity. We landed, her next to KS, and me near the Striker. We tore through the Devils, our movements hastened and our knives discharging snaps of annihilating current. Off to the side, I saw KS revive behind the Huntress' protection. "Get on the wall!" Someone called. The Striker, Defender, and KS jumped up to safety. The Huntress and I sliced through more Fallen, then turned to do the same. I bounded back up to my perch. As the Huntress' blade trance wore off and her knives vanished, she jumped up to her spot. An Arc bolt hit her back, causing her to plummet back to the ground. Before she could recover, the mass of Devils was already shooting her. "Guardian down!" a Ghost yelled. As we watched, trying in vain to ward off the Huntress' attackers, her Ghost materialized and tried flying to safety. A spray of bolts shot it down, killing it. It landed next to its Guardian. Now there were only twelve of us.