[spoiler]Charles floated back to you. "I think it works this time!... Maybe..." His shell expands and a memory plays. There are several explicit scenes that are quickly shut off. "Nope, nope. Definitely not!..." His shell expands as he plays the correct memory.[/spoiler] Josiah ran back inside just as his mother looked outside in horror. He clings to her shirt as people start to realize what is happening and chaos ensues. Several of the two armed aliens reach the houses and start tearing open doors and swiftly killing anyone that stands in their way. Josiah's mother slowly starts to pull him away from the door and slams it shut, blocking the way with a chair. She pushes him to the back of the house and gets him to hid behind the table, which she promptly turned on its side and wedges him into the corner. "Ok baby... Stay right here, do not make a sound... No matter what happens..." "Momma don't leave!..." He tried to make a grab for her but she pushed him away. "Momma is not gonna go anywhere. But you stay right here and be super quiet." She walks away and grabs his Mote of Light and places it in his hands. "Be very quiet." She puts a sack of flour infront of him and a blanket as well. He stays perfectly still and silent, holding the Mote close to his chest and allowing tears to roll down his eyes. She turns and starts running out just as the door flies open with a loud crack. A strange language comes from the four armed creature as Josiah's mother gaunks and stumbled back in fear. The thing walks forward, a pulsating arc blade in its hand. She looks around and soon picks up a chair. She yells and runs forward, letting the thing crash into the alien. She forces the chair forward as the aliens superior arms stop it mid swing. It gives a sickly laugh and grabs her with its free arm. It slings her across the room and into a wall where it impales her. Her eyes grow wide and roll back into her head before going limp. The alien rips the blade out and watches her fall. It turns to leave but catches the over turned table in the corner of its eye. It slowly walks forward with blade in hand and swiftly moves it. The blanket ruffles a bit but doesn't move. The alien laughs once again and gives two slashes into the blanket. White powder pours from the cuts to his surprise. It studies it a bit before another alien barked at it to move on. It slowly backed away and joined the fight. Josiah slowly looked out the side of the blanket and looked at his mother. He shook in fear as he slowly crawled out of his hiding spot. "M... m... momma?...." He sat by her and shook her. "Momma get up... Momma!...." His eyes welled up more tears as he curled himself up into a little ball as the battle outside raged on. After a short while, a loud booming noise shook the ground as Josiah froze. He heard more rumbling noises as he slowly creeped to the window and looked outside. The house next door soon exploded in fiery fury as he was knocked back as well as part of the wall. He coughed and tried to sit up as he saw a bright red dot on the wall. It watched it for a second before looking where it came from. A big bulky spider tank aimed it's main gun straight at his house. It fired and Josiah felt the heat cascading off of him as the house debris fell on him and he blacked out. [spoiler]Charles stopped the memory and hovers quietly for a moment. "Ya know... as much as I love being a Ghost... This is the part I hate... I suggest you look away if you get upset easily. Don't worry it will brighten soon but you came for a backstory so... here ya go..." He restarted the memory.[/spoiler] Everything blurs as Josiah attempted to get up. He winced in pain as burning debris shifted onto him. He quickly pushed them off and sat up. He looked around him. The sun was setting and everything was an ashy grey. Nothing remained standing. Piles of ash were everywhere at the places of the neighborhood he once knew. He slowly got up and the Mote of Light fell from his pocket. It rolled in the dust and shone faintly despite the dirt that was on it. He looked at it and slowly picked it up. He wiped the dirt off of it gently from its slightly cracked surface. He watched it glow faintly in his fingers as began to walk. Slowly. Remembering the path him and his mother took earlier today. Past the destroyed houses. Past the mutilated burnt corpses. Past the cooling gun shells that were spent on the slaughter. Past the piles of ash that caught in the wind and blew to make the sky even more grey. After a bit of walking, he stopped at the dead center of the town, strictly from remembering so well. He looked around him once more at the bleak landscape. No tears came from his eyes, he just stood there quietly. "This... is all a dream... all a dream..." He said as he closed his eyes really tight and opened them. Nothing changed. He tried again. "It's just a dream... just a dream." He tensed up and opened his eyes quickly. Nothing changed except the placement of the ash. "This is a dream..." He said once more, shaking in fear and tensing up, trying to wake himself up. His grip was strong as the Mote collapsed in his hands and made a crack sound. He gasped as the flutters of light tricked from his fingertips and ran to the sky. He desperately tried to catch some as they simply flew away. He stopped and stared at the sky then at his hands. He opened and closed them slowly as the tears began to well up. He tried to hold back his cries, to be a big kid, but he couldn't. He wailed into the sky, crying loudly. He stood perfectly still, crying. Everything he ever knew lost to him. The memories of yesterday lost to him as well as all feeling. But he simply stood. Crying. Letting his voice pierce the harsh sky that he was alone. And he wanted to not be alone. No one heard this cry, this plea for help except one. "What are you doing kid?" Josiah looked up at the man who had suddenly appeared before him. His voice was scruff and deep. His face was covered by a hood that hid his face. Josiah wiped his tears away pitifully and tried to answer but his voice failed him as he burst into tears again. "I asked a question kid, what are you doing here?" The man said, this time more aggressively. He gripped the gun he carried in his hand slightly harder and took a brief step forward. Josiah coughed and stuttered his answer. "I.... i... dont.... I don't know..." "You don't know?" Josiah nodded. "I... lost... m... my... momma..." More tears pooled from his eyes. He collapsed as his will to live on started to die out. His body shook out of agony and fear. "I... wanna... save... my momma!..." His wails grew louder as he shouted at whatever could hear him. "I... wanna... prote... pro... tect... my... MOMMA!!...." The man stood for a moment quietly as Josiah sobbed on. He showed little sorrow for the child as he grunted his response. "Hey kid." Josiah looked up at him to find the pistol pointed at his head. Inside the barrel was an abyss of black but the outside was coated silver with the letters COLT 45 along the unusual irons of the gun and also the letters B E A U T Y engraved near the hammer. "If you wanna save her..." He cocked the hammer back on the gun. "you have to join her first." Bang. The image fades into nothingness. [spoiler]Charles wiped his core as tears fell from his eye. He looked at you pitifully and expanded his shell once more.[/spoiler] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/168346945/0/0 link to part 3 https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/177048001/0/0 link to part 4.5 Final