As before, asterisks denote speech in the Eliksni tongue. Kathriks watched in shock as the human bunker collapsed with the Guardians inside. There was no way they could have survived the explosion. Seventeen years of hoping, hiding, and preparation, wiped away in a single blast. As she surveyed the ruins from her vantage point high upon a cliff, she was roused from her stupor by the sounds of delighted crowing. She turned to see her crew laughing at the success of yet another assassination mission. Her mind burned with rage at the thought of what these gibbering fools had taken from her. As she stalked over to her underlings, one rational thought remained. [i]Someone is going to die.[/i] As she approached, the sounds of celebration died as the other Shadows realized that their leader was not in the greatest mood. They all stood to attention as Kathriks slowly walked to stand in front of the group and spoke. *Which one of you planted the splinter mine?* The assembled Fallen cowered as they heard the barely repressed malice and rage in their commander's voice. In the back of the group, a Vandal cautiously stepped forward, bowing at Kathriks' feet. Swiftly drawing a shock blade from her belt, Kathriks drove the sword through the Vandal's head, ripping it free with a hiss of escaping Ether. Her second in command for this mission, a Captain named Straksis, went for his sidearm, stopping himself before he grabbed it. But the motion was not missed by Kathriks. *Something wrong?* She asked bitingly. Straksis strode forward, stopping before his superior. *You just killed my best man, Kell's blade. I would like an explanation.* *You want an explanation? Fine!* The assassin snapped. *Do you not recall my orders to bring them in alive?!* *Of course. There was just one problem with your orders.* Kathriks pointed her sword at Straksis' throat. *What problem was there?* She asked, her voice deadly quiet. *You gave the orders, [i]vohk'ra. Drovos krah, sien tof![/i]* There was a rush of humming sounds, and suddenly the other members of the crew were aiming their weapons at her. But she didn't care about that. She stayed focused on her target, even as a multitude of weapons were pointed at the back of her skull. *Tell them to stand down.* She ordered. The Captain growled. *I'm done taking orders from you. The fact that a [i]na'dakah[/i] like you could reach the position of Kell's blade is sickening! The Shadows shall remember what it truly means to be Eliksni when you are dead!* As the Fallen prepared to open fire, Kathriks consoled herself with the fact that her end goal had been reached, just not in the fashion she had wanted. Then the Earth shook, and rubble began to rain down from the sky. ------------- Wraith woke up to a searing pain in his side. He tried to look down, but stopped when he noticed a steel rod extending from his abdomen. Following the metal upwards, he saw that he was in a small cave like area formed by bits of the bunker. He couldn't feel his legs, so they were probably crushed by slabs of stone. The Titan took a deep breath, and thought about his situation. He didn't know if Tenebra was still alive. Hopefully, she'd escaped, but he knew how unlikely that was. She was likely buried under several tons of concrete much like he was. They were both trapped underground, and nobody was coming because nobody knew they were there. Wraith shouted in frustration. He struggled to free himself, but it was a futile endeavor. Resigning himself to being buried alive beneath several tons of steel and stone, he felt a prickling sensation at the back of his consciousness. Mentally reaching for it, he found a swarming mass of motion and energy, seemingly awaiting instruction. Hesitantly, the Titan freed it, and suddenly a pillar of SIVA punched upwards. Now he could see the sky, and the rubble was several hundred feet in the air and rapidly rising. The feeling in his legs quickly returned, and with a grimace of pain Wraith tore the metal shard from his side. Slowly rising to his feet, he didn't have to search long before he found his Warlock friend. She stood slowly as the bones of her hand fused together and realigned. "What... How are we standing out here?" She asked, walking over to to the Titan. "Erm... I may have used SIVA to clear a path." He replied sheepishly. Tenebra looked confused. Suddenly, her eyes filled with terror, and before Wraith could say anything, she hit him with a powerful palm strike launching him several feet backwards. Surprised that his friend would strike him after he’d freed her, his question of why was swiftly answered when a falling piece of metal embedded itself where he'd been standing. "... Ah. Thanks for the push." Tenebra walked over to the Titan and offered a helping hand. "No problem. But something's happening over [i]there.[/i]" She pointed to the top of a cliff overlooking the bunker, where a battle was clearly raging. Bursts of fire and lightning occasionally flickered into view, and the blasts of grenades could faintly be heard. Tex sighed. "Let's check it out." --------------------- Upon the Guardian's arrival, they saw several Fallen corpses scattered around. Upon seeing this, the two looked at each other, drew their weapons, and continued onward. Eventually, they heard sounds of a struggle. Rushing towards it, they saw a wounded Marauder facing a Captain, and the Captain was winning. Wraith fired a burst at the two catching the Captain in the shoulder. The Captain turned it's attention to the intruders, roaring at the Guardians until the Marauder stabbed in the back of the neck. As the Captain fell, Wraith shifted his aim to the remaining fallen, until it did something completely unexpected. It spoke. "Wait, Lightborn! I'm friend, I'm friend!" Having shouted those words, The creature's arms four arms clicked together, forming two arms with six fingers to a hand. The Fallen raised it's hands to it's mask and removed it. The Guardians gasped. Behind the mask was the scarred face of a human, a young woman of around twenty four. The woman spoke in fragmented English. "I can explain. Thank you for saving me."