Sierra's First Day Pt3

Part Three "Ghost, gonna need that ship pretty soon!" I yelled impatiently. The first of the next wave came into sight several rows back from my position, the head of a Vandal peeking over at me and calling to its comrades. "Don't rush me, you wouldn't want this exploding before or while you're inside it," he retorted. That was a fair point. I looked back as I heard the repeated click of the engines turning but not starting up, however my attention was brought back to the task at hand when a blue beam shot past my head, nearly burning a hole through my armor. A couple of Vandals were hanging back with long rifles and firing at me while the other Vandals and Dreg picked their way closer, clearing the path for reinforcements to advance more easily. Throwing my knife occasionally and punching whenever I didn't have it was still doing me good, but every second more of them drew closer, and I knew I would be overwhelmed. My Ghost came to the rescue just in time, proving himself useful for once. "I found a gun in the cockpit! Hold at your hand as if you're holding it by the grip!" he exclaimed urgently. I did as I was told and within just a few moments a revolver appeared in my hand, fitting snugly in my grasp. Without a moment of hesitation I leveled the pistol at the head of the nearest Fallen and blew it off with a single shot, then moved on to the next in line. As the engines continued to putter weakly, I worked to keep the Fallen back while also avoiding the shots fired by the snipers in the back. Things were looking almost good for the first time today. Then I heard a deep growl rise from behind me. Before I could do more than turn my head to see a large creature launching itself at me, I was knocked to the ground and my gun slipped away from my grasp. Flipping over on to my back, I found a large Fallen standing over me with two swords drawn, it's armor thicker than the other Fallen and a red cape draped over its back. Its foot was already stomping down onto my stomach as I thought to move away from it, so I remained pinned underneath it's weight as it roared at me victoriously. The roar turned into one of pain as I drove my knife into its calf, but it did not fall or step away from me, merely swatting the blade out of my hand as I pulled it out for another stab. Frustration built up inside me as I squirmed beneath the Fallen, watching helplessly as it slowly raised its two blades above me. Fire blossomed within my chest, growing as my anger and defiance did, and a feeling of confidence washed through me as the energy moved from my chest down my arm. Without thought, I raised my right arm, pointing my hand at the alien scumbag as if I was still holding my gun. It paused as I did this and seemed to laugh mockingly, but as it did so, my body erupted in fire. A pistol made purely of flames and energy appeared in my hand, and I pulled the trigger before the Fallen could think to act. The creature was launched off of me with the impact of the glowing bullet, but its body was gone before it could even touch the ground, engulfed by the fire. I rose to me feet, still wreathed in flames as I turned my eyes to the other Fallen just making it to the ship. They charged me, but I sensed the fear of being my next target within each of them as they came. Two more golden bullets left my weapon before it finally disappeared from my hand, leaving behind glowing streaks in the air and burning embers drifting to the floor. Spotting my weapon before the remaining Fallen could close in on me, I rolled quickly across the floor and recovered it, going right back to putting lead in each alien head I saw. Energy still flowed through me even though flames no longer wreathed my body, and as I flung my arm out to throw my knife once more I found that it had not yet returned to me, but something else left my hand. A fiery orb was launched from my palm and it bounced to the feet of my target, exploding after a moment to obliterate its victim. Soon the space around me was clear once more and I began exchanging fire with the snipers, but I could hear more Fallen coming. To my relief, the engines finally roared to life and the hum of the other systems coming online followed immediately after. The Phaeton began hovering up off of the ground, causing me to panic a bit at the thought of the Ghost leaving without me. But my panic was replaced with surprise as a tingling sensation spread throughout my body and I found myself inside the ship's cockpit with a flash of white. My floating companion hovered above the controls, manipulating the systems with the blue beam he shone from his eye. "The bay door in the ceiling here is closed, but busting through something so old won't be a problem," he explained as if I hadn't just been teleported in moments ago. Immediately after his warning I was pressed down against my seat with the force of our acceleration, only to be jarred upwards on impact with the ceiling. I felt the roof give way as our ship continued to ascend, and saw rubble tumble off the wings and front of the ship through the reinforced glass. I watched the ground below us as we began speeding away from the old building, catching a glimpse of the angry Fallen trying to shoot us down from below. The old city blurred past underneath us, but the damage it had sustained over the years was still painfully evident. How had a civilization that had clearly once been so grand been crushed so thoroughly? With a sigh I looked away from the view to watch my Ghost hover around over the controls, setting our course. I thought of names for him, discarding most instantly, but began to feel one probing at the edge of my mind. "...John?" I asked after several moments of pondering the single name that stuck in my mind. The Ghost froze above the controls, clearly pondering the name I had called him by. After a few moments, he turned to look at me with his glowing blue eye. "I'm John...John," he whispered to himself, testing the name before speaking to me, "Yes Sierra?" "John, you suck at flying," I told him flatly. "Oh you give me a name just so you can insult me more personally?!" John accused, but began laughing immediately after. I couldn't help but laugh as well. "It's hard to yell at someone when you don't have anything decent to call them by," I said through my laughter, "And you had to be so rough getting out of that building?" "I can hear your nagging voice already," John chuckled, "Yelling "hurry up John! Cut it out John! Where's my armor John?!". Yep, I'm gonna love hearing you shout my name so often." "I better not have to scream those things at you," I glowered at him, my humor dying quickly, "Or we can just go ahead and change your name to Pervert." "Why not leave the name and call me pervert as an adjective?" he chuckled evilly, "I'm fine with that as long as I get to keep John." "I am going to hate every moment I spend with you," I muttered. "I love you, too," John responded, seeming to wink with his single eye. ____________________________________ Link to Pt 2: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/222290359/0/0 Link to Pt 4: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/222290665/0/0 Link to ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0