Here it is! The final chapter of War of Lies coming to u just before Beyond Light drops! This one will be only 2 parts, so you won’t get the ending quite yet unfortunately. But enough of that, let’s get to reading so we can all play some Destiny [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/257486302/0/0]Link to Chapter 5, Part 2[/url] [spoiler]All chapters of the War of Lies will be linked to the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/257167399/0/0]Table of Contents[/url] as they are posted[/spoiler] “Think they came?” I questioned my escort. I didn’t like that word for him, though. I was the fighter- not that he wasn’t also a soldier -and he was more the official representative. “Oh, they came,” he assured me, “From what I’ve seen throughout this whole mess, Seren likes making noise to cover up her quiet moves. Whoever she sent is probably here to kill us, though.” I looked down at him curiously. He wasn’t a very small man, but I was so big next to him it seemed so. “But ya still tagged along?” I asked, “Don’t strike me as the reckless sort. I’d know; that’s the sort I am.” “I’m hoping an acquaintance of mine will show up,” my associate said coldly, murderous intent visible in his eyes even though he didn’t even glance up at me. That made me grin. “An ‘ere I was thinkin’ you were the emotionless sort,” I clapped a hand on his shoulder, “I think I like ya.” “You remind me of him,” the smaller man grunted. “Ah…” my hand slipped down, “I s’pose that ain’t so good.” “No, it’s fine…” he spoke up a bit now to make himself clear, “He did say we would get along if we were on the same side. You’re making me think he was right.” “Huh…an ‘ere I was sayin’ people weren’t complicated,” I shrugged, then pulled my cloak back into place over my shoulder, “Let’s git.” “I’ll take point,” my companion declared, already walking in front of me down the slope. A faint smile touching my lips, I followed into the luscious trees of Venus towards the single skyscraper that remained standing amongst the forest-covered rubble of a Golden Age city. It was easy to follow his red and grey Syndicate armor. The armor of a captain. But not just any captain: a special ops captain. I hadn’t bothered reading up on this guy since words didn’t do a man’s actions justice, but I’d heard he had some pretty impressive feats under his belt from during and before the War of Lies. We met no resistance on our trek to the structure, to my disappointment. The Vex didn’t wander here often and there wasn’t anything for the Winter Fallen to claim, so the odds of a firefight were extremely low. Whatever the Reef Mob had waiting for us was bound to be inside the skyscraper, but still, it would’ve been fun if they had given us a surprise before then. It was dark inside, with only a few barely functional lights left to show us the way through until we reached the central lounge or reception center of whatever this place used to be. My associate had his rifle held at the ready as we came into the open area, but he held it with a looseness and familiarity that let me know he was experienced. I tapped the barrel of my hand cannon casually against my leg to the tune of a long forgotten rhythm that called images of marching armies to my mind. “Well I’ll be skewered and stand again as a Guardian! Cap-i-tan Quince!” a boisterous voice broke me out of my daydreaming, and I turned calmly to see a bearded Awoken man clad in mottled brown armor walk up from the direction opposite of where we had come from, a broad smile on his face. “Hundson,” Captain Quince answered from where he stood a few meters away from me, then turned his weapon on the new arrival. Hundson halted and suddenly had a pistol up and leveled at Quince’s head. My cannon was already raised. The three of us stood in silence for a moment, Hundson and I grinning while Quince glared icily. “Take it this’n is yer acquaintance. This just got interesting,” I chuckled to Quince, then greeted Hundson, “Name’s Lee.” “Hundson. A pleasure,” the Mob representative waved at me with his free hand. “Cadmus,” a low, groaning voice spoke up from my side, and I turned my head to see a man with a sniper rifle perched a dozen or so feet above our heads in the shadows of broken support beams protruding from a torn open portion of the wall. “Heh,” I laughed dryly, looking back to Quince and Hunsdon to see what they’d do. Captain Quince hardly even glanced at the sniper before speaking to Hundson. “Been awhile. Still haven’t forgiven you for my crew.” “Forgiveness ain’t in large supply these days,” the Mob mercenary shrugged a little, “You’ve been busy. Put a lot of Seren’s boys in the dirt. Put a lot of my boys in the dirt. Seems like we really got lucky with that first ambush, cuz you’ve been kicking my sorry rear across the system since then. “We underestimated Seren once. Guess we’re even,” Quince’s smile was the opposite of humored. “Guess so,” Hundson echoed, his smirk shifting into a sad frown, “We sure have lost a lot of friends…” “Yeah…” Quince agreed, lowering his gun and sharing a look with the mercenary that I honestly didn’t care enough to read. People died. Boohoo. Welcome to life and war. Why burden yourself with attachments when all it does is make you worry? Conflict made life exciting. Pointing my own weapon skyward laxly as Hundson stood down as well, I looked over to see the man who called himself Cadmus still looking down his barrel at us. “Take it easy,” Hundson called to his ally, “We’re good here.” It took a few moments for Cadmus to lower his weapon, but he did eventually. The man jumped down from his hiding place, landing easily with the loud ring of metal. I admit I became a bit curious when I realized that the fall should’ve broken an ankle at the very least. He was shrouded in dark clothing and a hooded cloak, making it just as hard to make out his features as when he was above us in the shadows. But I could see his size now, and he wasn’t a very big man. “So this is the peace meeting?” I guffawed, twirling my piece around on my finger, “Lookin’ more like a shoot out. Now that’d be fun.” A crackle sounded in my earpiece, followed by the whine of feedback. The way everyone else winced let me know it wasn’t just happening to me. “Everyone’s here?” a man’s voice sounded over the comms, then went on because he apparently already knew the answer, “I’m coming in, don’t shoot.” “Who in the hell just hacked our channel?” Hundson wondered aloud, shooting a suspicious look at my compatriot and myself. “It would seem he was invited,” Quince observed. “Why?” Cadmus’ irritated voice was like the whisper of metal plates lightly scraping against each other. “A mediator?” Quince guessed. “Who could they have called in that’s not on either side?” Hundson wondered, shifting his grip to be more comfortable on his revolver. “Someone on both sides.” [spoiler]Lee is a character belonging to [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/226647634/0/0]The Echo Saga[/url], by Karl Marx Cadmus is a character belonging to series by [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/250943433/0/0]OverLordTitanX[/url] Quince and Hundson are characters who appeared in Chapter 2 of War of Lies, for those who need a refresher[/spoiler] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/257557846/0/0]Link to Chapter 6 Part 2[/url]