And I'm back with what I thought would be the thrilling conclusion to this story. It resoundingly is not; however, I'm thinking part four will be the actual end... Hopefully... We'll see. Sorry that this has taken so long; Prison of Elders has eaten away all the free time I have. If you haven't read the first parts, then: Part One: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/120935319/0/0 Part Two: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/122124663/0/0 As always, thank you all for the support and I hope to hear your comments/critiques. Just to warn you, this part had to be put into this post and two comments below “Move! Now!” Saint-14's orders rang out into the decrepit room, barely audible over the sound of Fallen screams and shrieks. His four compatriots sprinted away, heading down a new hall, hoping to find some sense of direction. The Exo followed shortly behind, jogging backwards to see his Ward of Dawn shield dissipate and clear the way for the creatures of darkness. As it did, Saint's helmet shot out another beam of light. He let it drift across the front line of the now moving forces, blinding them before he too turned and ran to meet with his team. There was chaos. The alien sounds filling the halls of the ancient Cosmodrome as if throngs inhabited those now useless halls. The four Titans and one Warlock were in full sprint as much as the terrain would allow. Whether it be dead end rooms or collapsed passages, they weren't shaking any of their pursuit. Yvette had fallen to the back of the group, turning behind momentarily to shoot at Dregs who moved a bit too quickly for his liking. “Saint, sir, not to question orders or anything, but where the hell are we going?” Saint had moved to the center of the group, barking orders as needed to keep them together. His Ghost had pulled up a map of the basic scouting missions that had explored the ruins and the fragmented remains of blueprints that had been pulled from one of the building's computers. There was too much missing though; they had gone too far for any of the data to be reliable. He called through the Ghosts' comms system, “Cayde-5, we need an evac route towards the Ketch. Now.” There was a long pause before he added, “Cayde? Respond!” The leader of the chain was so caught up in trying to reach the Hunter, that he almost plowed into Vell's back at full speed. The group stopped short as a Vandal fell from a hole in the ceiling, gurgling and sputtering ether as it fell and collapsed on the ground. It clutched in vain at a knife sticking out of the front of its throat. Cayde's head then pushed down into the hole, making him look upside down to the others. “Oh, fancy seeing you here, see, I was just butchering-” Krace yelled, “Shut up! Where in the Traveler's light is the exit?!” He turned and fired his machine gun down the hall they had come from as the Fallen started to catch up, trying to help Yvette hold them back. Cayde did his best to purse his metallic lips in annoyance, but he shouted back, “You're not far; follow the signs for the launch zone. The Ketch landed a few minutes ago. I think that's where they're all headed to be picked up.” “Good! Now, stay up above; get over there and wait for us to emerge before you fire on the ship.” Saint didn't wait for a response, he just turned to Revenant and shouted over the machine gun fire, “Collapse the hall.” The Warlock paused for just a moment, staring at the Exo in thought. “Yes sir! Of course sir!” He turned towards the oncoming wave of Fallen. “Right away sir! I am ant among millions, a soldier for my queen.” He held out his left hand and called upon the Void, focused it, and condensed it until he held a faintly glowing purple orb. He then threw the orb over the others' heads, landing it just in front of the first of the Fallen forces encroaching. There was a millisecond's pause before it began sucking at the matter around it. “To hold a gravity well, a singularity so small in one's palm...” He didn't finish the thought before pieces of Dregs were torn off and pulled into the miniature black hole. Then went whole Fallen. Then pieces of the ceiling. Finally, there was a resounding groan from the building, tied of all it had seen and now this new stress on its form. The hall's walls and ceiling collapsed in, crushing some of the Fallen and leaving innumerable more to claw and scream at the debris in frustration. “Keep moving. They will find a way around.” Saint took lead now, running down the hall, letting his subroutines translate each sign they passed. Revenant was slower to sprint, so the only female of the group ended up running side by side with him. She said in a hushed, but harsh whisper, “A soldier for the Queen? I thought the Crows were supposed to be subtle.” After a needless teleport, he retorted, “And I thought all Awoken were to remain in the Reef, aside from Crows; yet, here you are. Earth? The Chain? Even your own Ghost?” The robotic call of a Servitor echoed down a perpendicular hall and, with a quick glance, Yvette was able to see its faint glow in the distance before they passed the hall. “Fine. There's no time for this right now.” Above the group, Cayde-5 had created a spectacle of the roof. Ether and blood were smeared across the metallic surface, exploding outwards at each point of contact. Thirty-four bodies were sprawled across the roof and not a single intact head among all of them. He kicked himself for needing the knife for the last one. “Ghost, it could have been a perfect game; I was so gorram on point... I don't think it'll ever happen again.” He could still feel heat radiating from the barrel of his sniper; had he pushed further, the rifling would have melted away. His Ghost, still dematerialized and only speaking directly to him, replied, “Sir, don't you think we have more important things to worry about? Like how we're going to stop a Fallen army from escaping?” The Hunter jumped over a body as he laughed, “Ghost, we've got Saint-14 down there; you worry too...” He slowed his run, slack jaw at the sight before him as he approached the lip of the building. “You know what, little buddy? You might not worry enough.” He stared blankly at the open courtyard that lay before him. It had once been one of many launch pads, initially used to explore the solar system and lastly used to escape the doomed planet. When Cayde-6 looked out over it though, he could just barely tell that anything that had been there had long been covered by overgrown grass. Instead, he saw the giant Ketch resting in the far side of the expanse. Its back half had landed on top part of the Cosmodrome, collapsing the weakened structure entirely around it while one of its massive engines had pushed a derelict human ship over, spreading its bulbous parts across the ground. Fallen poured out of every door from the Cosmodrome, moving in packs of twenty, each group surrounding a servitor. He tried to count, tried to come to any estimate, but there was too much movement. They disappeared into the giant ship as quickly as they exited the buildings. There were drop ships lifting off from other portions of the complex and even others landing to help load up the innumerable forces in the one area. Cayde opened his mouth to say something, anything that relay what they had found, but was silenced by an explosion below him. Saint-14 was the first to charge through the doors as they blew apart. He slowed from his full run as he recognized the panoramic size of the enemy in front of them. The other four were shortly behind, stopping as well in shock. They were on the top of a slight hill, just enough of a grade to give the vaguest of advantages. Then again, there were at least three hundred Fallen to each of them, not including those on the Ketch or those still in the Cosmodrome. Krace was the first of the team able to find any appropriate words, “We're xìngjiāo.” The leader of the Chain couldn't agree more. There were subroutines built into his consciousness that immediately told him the astronomical odds of surviving if they ran now. Survival without running could only be expressed with a limit of zero. There was however a 1.3% chance they could kill Kell Trykais before they died. It was good enough odds for him. Saint spun around to his team. “Yvette, take that hall; you make sure that not even one Dreg finds their blade in our backs. Understood?” She nodded faintly, still in awe, until he added, “Then move!” “Vell, Krace, form up with me; we have to hold back as many as possible until we can find Trykais.” The two other Titans, now snapped from their morbid reverie, stepped to the front of the small rise with their leader. They carefully reloaded each of their weapons, preparing for as much of a stand as they could muster. “Revenant, take your shots carefully and let me know when you are ready with Bloom. And Cayde-6...” There was a forced laugh over the comms. “You want me to shoot things, right?” “Snipers, servitors, and major targets. Your priority though is to find Trykais and put a bullet in his brain.” Cayde nodded to himself, half-listening as his Ghost rattled off all the reasons they should have stayed at the wall. He pulled Gorgeous from his back, blew gently on the barrel, hoping it had cooled enough, and took aim. “Shān yǔ yù lái fēng mǎn lóu, little buddy. Might as well be the first to shoot.” There was a shot and, half a second later, a Vandal's head exploded in ether and gore, dropping its rifle to the ground in its rooftop perch. It was another painfully long fifteen seconds before the Devil army realized what was happening, much to the chagrin of another three dead Vandals.