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Edited by Azidamadjida: 1/27/2017 4:15:49 AM
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REEF MOB, Ch. 2: Escape from New Monarchy

If you missed the last chapter, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/218291573/0/0]here[/url], or if you need to find a previous chapter, you can find them all in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/218618986?sort=0&page=0]Table of Contents[/url]. Enjoy the story and if you like it, a bump would be greatly appreciated! If you have any questions or corrections, comment or message me anytime, I welcome any and all feedback. *** The Guardians believe the Wall to be the most secure structure on Earth. Cloistered in the safety and surety of their Tower and the calming glow of the Traveler, they assume that the Wall will always stand, and that no outsiders can penetrate it. They’re wrong. For years, outsiders have come to the slums of the lower City for various reasons: armor, weapons, contraband. The Gunsmith and Vanguards have long held strong opinions about merging alien technology with their own, but those who live below hold no such reservations. The black market of Old La Rioja takes any and all requests –– nothing is forbidden down here. Just so long as the Tower remains in the dark about it. I step out into the crowded alleyway beneath the shadow of the Traveler –– smoke, heat, noise and neon obscure the streets further. The packed masses of humans, Exos, and aliens make it hard to see, and I pull up the hood on my cloak for refuge. Ghost hovers beneath my cloak, hiding as he’s been taught to in public. I start down the street and just as Ghost had predicted, the flaming red banners of the New Monarchy push through the crowd, borne on the armor of the faction’s representatives as they patrol the slum. Lucky for me, there’s plenty of others around to keep their attention. I see the telltale outlines of Vandals, Dregs and Psions ducking around corners and slipping under cloaks of their own. I move with the crowd, masking myself in the chaos as I ease past the Guardians, out of the alley and toward more open passages. A few steps takes me to a clearing in the masses, and Ghost summons my sparrow. As the engine roars to life, people scream and I can hear the authoritarian calls of the New Monarchy as they turn toward the noise. I don’t look back as I kick the sparrow forward, darting around people and heading for the Wall. Wind whips my hood back as I summon my helmet –– it materializes around my face until I’m enclosed in its eerie silence. For just a moment, the pride of a Guardian courses through my veins, giving me an extra boost as I turn down a wider street and push the sparrow to its limit. Behind me, I hear the telltale shrieks of other sparrows in pursuit –– Ghost throws a heads-up display into my helmet, and I see my New Monarchy pursuers. [i]Self-righteous fascists[/i], I think, [i]no better than the Concordants they always deride[/i]. Ghost calculates a route to the Wall and sends heads-up signals to my helmet –– I push my pursuers out of mind and follow his signals, weaving recklessly around the City’s forgotten. Shots ring out, and the whisper of bullets passes inches from my cloak –– Ghost shows me my pursuers again, and I see them driving one-handed, aiming wildly at me as they fire indiscriminately. [i]No concern for bystanders[/i], I scowl inside my helmet. [i]What do they care about the people they claim to protect?[/i] “Ghost, get them off us.” Ghost zips out, hovering on pace with my sparrow as it turns toward the New Monarchists. I spare a glance over my shoulder as Ghost opens fire on them, and you can almost see the shock and horror through their own helmets. Their sparrows veer wildly as one falls from Ghost’s return fire –– he jerks toward the others’ as she tries to pull away, dodging the sparrow before banking off a building a spiraling chaotically back toward it. The ear-splitting scream of metal and speed roars into an explosion behind me –– I throttle the sparrow forward, sparing no mind for the fallen Guardians behind me. Ghost spares just enough of a glance to see the Guardians’ own Ghosts begin the process of their resurrections. “I’ve never seen those Guardians before,” Ghost tells me. “Why should you have?” I respond as I follow his signals toward the Wall. “There are more, so many more than there ever were. The Guardians’ numbers are growing.” “As one would expect with a cult.” “That’s rich, coming from you.” “That was before I realized their war will never end.” Down another street, screaming past shocked City dwellers –– the buildings are beginning to clear, heading toward the City’s outer defenses. “I know. Organic life is so restrictive.” “Says the Traveler’s pet.” Drawing nearer –– the Wall looms before me. “Scathing. If you’re done with the banter, we’re almost to the Wall.” “I can see that. Your repartee’s still lacking since your upgrades.” “You’re the one that made room for a gun by removing some of my processors.” I pass through the final barriers –– the Wall’s seconds away –– “Maybe I should’ve removed more.” I can feel Ghost’s annoyance, but I ignore him. I stare at the impending Wall, steeling my muscles, waiting for the right moment –– Feet away from the wall, I jump ––  Ghost dematerializes my sparrow behind me as I soar through the air toward the Wall ––  I hit my boosters and jump in midair, giving me control as I fly higher up the Wall’s surface, looking for the right spot –– I hit the boosters again, and rise higher, looking, looking –– [i]There. [/i] A small broken alcove draws nearer, in range –– I twist my body toward it, reaching out ––  My fingers grab on, anchoring me –– I pull myself up and stand on the ledge, calculating my next move. I jump again, hit the boosters as I fly toward the next handhold, then the next –– Shots ring out, high energy beams slamming into the Wall –– I grab a handhold and hold on for dear life as Ghost throws a heads-up display to my helmet, zooming in on New Monarchists on the ground below firing up at me. “Ghost! Plot the fastest route up!” Trajectories and graphs overlay the Wall inside my helmet, Ghost plotting a route up and highlighting each step. I jump faster, soaring and using my boosters to weave the shots from below and direct me forward –– stone, metal and debris rain showers around me as chunks of the Wall rain down. [i]They’re going to tear down the Wall just to take me out[/i], I think wryly, enjoying the irony despite my predicament. Ghost’s last few points blink in front of me as I draw near the top of the Wall –– a few more boosts and my feet land on the top. Shouts and thundering footsteps greet me at the top –– three Titans bloodied by the crimson marks of the New Monarchy rush forward, two firing as one leaps, swinging his flaming hammer and roaring. I flip backwards, dodging, the hand cannon at my hip flying into my hand without a thought as my finger squeezes the trigger again and again –– one of the Titans ignites his Ward and my shots bounce harmlessly off. Two Titans seek refuge inside as the one wielding the hammer keeps charging toward me. Ghost fires at him, but his armor’s too strong –– he keeps coming, swinging his hammer, and I have only seconds to act. My feet leave the ground, my boosters pushing me further into the air as I toss a grenade at the Titan –– it sticks to his helmet, dead center, as the Titan brings his hammer down. In the half second before the explosion, I almost wonder what the Titan’s thinking. His body disappears in the explosion, its remains flying off the sides of the Wall harmlessly. I see his own Ghost fly after him as the Titans within the Ward scream as I land back on the top of the Wall. [i]You guys started it[/i], I can’t help thinking, wondering if they ever consider the consequences of their own violence. I don’t give them the chance to act –– before they can even exit their Ward, I leap again off the side of the Wall toward the wastelands beyond, free falling before hitting my boosters to slow the landing. My feet crash into the outlands of the other side in clouds of dust. My helmet dematerializes as I stare at the specks of the Titans. “I hope whatever’s in that case was worth all of this,” Ghost tells me, following my gaze. “It could be empty and it’d still be worth screwing with New Monarchy.” “We should be free from prying eyes now,” Ghost responds, looking around. “Time to call the ship?” The Titans begin firing down at us, and though their shots fly wide, I don’t want to wait around for them to get any closer. Ghost summons my sparrow as I board, replying “Open the channel.” The sparrow races out toward the Twilight Gap, away from the City, away from the Wall, away from every reminder of what I used to be.

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