[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=66609244]All previous chapters[/url] Long ass chapter this time, will be splitting it in-two. Expect the next one later tonight. Erunner covered his mouth to hold in a cough. The road was dusty and well worn, fortunately, everyone was on orders to keep dust kickup to a minimum, so it wasn't terribly dusty. Since the earthquake, they had been driving for three days, due north toward the land of community. The vast fields and deciduous forests of the northern regions of the flood had long since been replaced by pine forests, and rocky terrain that characterized the north quarter of the bungie continent, as well as the pegboy mountains looming nearby. They were getting larger. He knew the plan. They would be moving across a pass in the mountains and exit in the northeastern corner of the reach kingdom. It would keep them out of the eye of bungie. whos gaze had been increasingly more noticable as they pushed further into their territory. Their luck wouldn't hold out through any more near misses. A bungie patrol had almost found them twice. The second time a group of Sapphire elites had to kill the entire ten man group. Lest they be discovered. A gust of bitter mountain wind blasted through the young floodian's hair. The air was cool and thick,with a hint of pure mountain snow. Erunner breathed a sigh of relief. Just a few miles and they would be safe, or at least safer. He brushed a patch of dried mud from his light golden colored gauntlets. Beside him, his mentor Gamerz drove the light transport truck attentively. She was quiet these days. Something about her had changed since he met her years ago. Back then, she was kind and friendly, easy to get along with. Dare he say it, she was happy. Now she always seemed to have a cloud overhanging her. God knows how many assasins she killed in those years. He shuffled uncomfortable. He hated the new gamerz, he wanted his old mentor back, his old friend. A bump in the dark mountain road shook the truck, jerking Erunner out of his internal observations. Outside, the terrain had transformed from scraggly brush, pine trees, and cedar, to a duller gray filled with sparsely placed pine and lichen, but mostly large rocky tracks of grey/black. They were moving upward in a higher angle too. Erunner turned his attention to the other trucks in the huge convoy. They had definitely slowed due to the rough mountain trail they were now on, but the precariously packed cargo on each still swayed dizzyingly. He swore they would fall at any moment, but they never did. Erunner checked the mags for his auto-shotgun, then, convinced they were full, dozed off into a half-nap. He awoke several hours later to a solid wall of dark grey facing him through the thick glass of the truck. It was moving slowly, almost walking speed. Far above, the sky was beginning to darken, but the high walls of the mountain path had long since blocked any sunlight from entering the strange man-made crevice. The trucks lights were on high. Suddenly, the truck shut down and gamerz slapped him on the shoulder with her gauntleted hand. "Boss says rack up, we're staying here for the night." Errunner nodded and pushed the door to the truck open. Outside, the air was bitter cold, but clear and refreshing, save for the occasional puff of truck exhaust. Erunner breathed it in and viewed his surroundings. They were in a wide, high walled "canyon" pass through the mountains, High and dark, with treacherous slopes and large boulders that more often then not appeared to menacingly threaten to tumble into the canyon and smash some poor sap who happened to be having a very unlucky day. From the corner of his eye, he swore he saw the flicker of a light far above, but as he sharply turned to discern it, it disappeared. He stared at the spot for nearly a minute, before hesitantly getting his sleeping gear from the back of the truck. Apart from the mountainous walls, the erea the trucks were parked in was a huge calderalike opening between two mountains, with three large paths leading into it, one entrance, and two separate exits. One to the north, and the other to the east. With that final lay of the land memorized, he pulled his sleeping cot from the truck and began setting it near his mentor's, which was already set out. He lay down to sleep, staring at the slowly growing motes in the dimming sky. Their numbers increased each minute that passed, first numbering in the hundreds, then the thousands, then millions, until the sky was a black canvas filled with billions of burning specks of white existence. A ruffle nearby announced Gamerz was in bed. Erunner continued staring at the sky, then closed his eyes. "Boss" Gamerz grunted an acknowledgement" "All these stars in the sky, they shine on us every night, but we never notice them. it's as if their trying to tell us something....Maybe....they're telling us that we're all just infinitesimal specks ourselves, and that however the world turns we won't matter, it will never matter. Is there a plan? A path? Some devine purpose we were put here to accomplish in our short span on the earth I don't know......Boss, what do you think?" Gamerz chuckled a bit to herself, and replied. "I think you forgot to set up the tent." Erruner frowned and chuckled at his own stupidity. Oh well, there was his old mentor. She wasn't completely gone yet. "Where were you born?" Gamerz turned to face in the direction opposite of erruner's cot. "Go to bed, we have a long journey due east tomorrow. You need to get some sleep" Errunner frowned. "Wouldn't it make more sense to go north along that other path?" "orders are orders", Gamerz replied with a hint of irritation . Erruner's face soured, but he got the hint. With that, he closed his eyes again and slowly drifted off to sleep with the quiet memory of billions of stars in his memory, and clear, silent mountain air in his lungs. The next day was spent in the cab of the truck, driving endlessly eastward on the rough, uncomfortable mountain path. The walls of the canyon began to slowly pull inward on the long line of floodian soldier transports as they moved further, Hours passed, but the bumpy, ass hurting road was really starting to get on his nerves. By Gamerz' face, it was apparent she was hating it as much as he was. "I haven't been this sore since my last husband's "longies"." Erunner stared at his mentor in pure shock. "What theBOOOM!" The truck rammed into the back of the truck ahead, which had stopped abruptly. Erunner shook his head, to find gamerz had already exited the truck. Knowing what she would do, he jumped out of the truck and rushed to the front of the rear-ended truck just in time to hear the end of a rant. "And furthermore" She was cut off mid sentence. Her data pad lit up and buzzed. She looked at it, then began jogging toward the front of the convoy, she motioned for erunner to follow. He did. As they neared the front, they could immediately tell something was off. A large crowd was beginning to gather, and somehow the mountainside seemed to disappear. Strange The two soldiers pushed their way through the crowd to a surprise. Where there should have been a mountain road, there was nothing for thousands of feet to the frothing sea hitting the side of the mountain below. It was as if the land had been physically ripped from the mountain. Across miles of sea, the sun was shining over a large landmass that passed as far in both directions as could be seen. It's entire edge was made of torn mountains. Erunner turned to find Mister math standing in awe. He half yelled at the small, diminutive man. "What the hell is going on?" The master mathematician looked at him in confusion nearly as complete as his own. I think....that's reach