If you want to move to a preceding or following part, or read an actual description of the story, click [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1901902/223764924/0/0]Table of Contents[/url]. Majiraya’s gloves burned and glowed brighter with fire. They were a piece of Exotic armor called the Sunbreakers that modified his Light by allowing him to generate two long-lasting solar grenades at once. Orbs of fire coalesced in both hands, and when he tossed them at his team’s feet they expanded into miniature suns. He focused his Light to exhibit the Touch of Flame technique, which made his flames more likely to spread, and Viking Funeral, a skill that weakened his enemies. This was a deadly combination that the Fallen Dregs found out as they burned even when they were several feet away. The Acolytes hadn’t come forward, though, keeping back and firing from around cover. Majiraya broke from his team and smacked an Acolyte in the face with his palm, burning with Solar energy called a Scorch attack. The Hive erupted into flames, the fire curling off the alien and collecting around Majiraya into a Flame Shield that strengthened his Ghost’s shield. He continued to draw the Acolytes’ fire from his teammates with his shotgun. Barego attacked the Fallen with a direct approach. Her Exotic helmet, the Insurmountable Skullfort, channeled Light into her melee attacks that gave her more Light-charged punches. As an Arc-wielding Striker, this manifested itself in the electrically-charged Storm Fist. The first two Dregs she struck dissolved into sparks before arcing out toward other Fallen because of her well-practiced Discharge technique. The Captain had stayed behind in the small room with a sniping Vandal, who broke through her Ghost’s shield and tagged her in the shoulder. She spun around and used her auto rifle to kill some Vandals, healing her in the process before charging into the small room. Electricity gathered around her as she rammed into the Vandal sniper with a thunder-clapping Shoulder Charge, throwing the Devil across the room. The Captain and other Vandals lunged toward her, but didn’t even get close as she brought her fists down to the floor in a Fist of Havoc. The Fallen were vaporized on the spot, and electricity continued to crackle on the floor from the Aftermath and Aftershocks training she had learned. One stupid Dreg failed to notice this and got ionized as well. Blacklight didn’t use as much Light attacks, but he was deadly in his own way. His Exotic helmet, the Knucklehead Radar, was more technological in that it allowed his radar to remain active while he was aiming down his hand cannon’s sights instead of disappearing. He could precisely kill Hive and Fallen without being surprised by something sneaking up behind them. He fought to an unheard rhythm, precisely taking off enemy heads while jumping around the room, sliding across the floor with Fleet Footed electric slides, stabbing adversaries with lightning fast thrusts of his knife in quick succession thanks to his Fast Twitch training, and attaching sticky flux grenades to alien faces. He finished off the last of the Fallen and helped Majiraya clear out the rest of the Acolytes, enemy fire barely grazing him as he practically danced across the room. Less than three minutes since the fight began, Protégé stood without so much as a scratch over the bodies and ashes of their enemies. Barego nodded in approval. “Not bad, boys. Blacklight, check around the room and make sure nothing’s hiding in any corners.” The Exo didn’t respond. Instead, he was shrugging his shoulders and slapping his hand against his leg. It took her a moment to realize Blacklight was dancing. “Blacklight! Knock it off and clear the room!” “He can’t hear you,” Neon said over their headsets. “He asked me to turn off his mic so he didn’t distract you.” Barego groaned. She knew what was going on. “Patch me through.” She was almost deafened by blaring pre-Golden Age rock and roll. “HERE I AM!” Blacklight sung in perfect robotic pitch to the music. “[i]ROCK [/i]YOU LIKE A HURRICA-[i]AAAANE[/i]!” “[i]BLACKLIGHT[/i]!” Barego shouted at the top of her lungs. Her teammate almost jumped out of his armor. “Geez, Sarge, you don’t have to yell! Just tap me on the shoulder or something.” “[i]Why [/i]do you have to listen to music while you’re fighting?” “It gets me in a groove! Did you [i]see [/i]me wrecking ass? You ought to try it sometime!” “Blacklight, you realize that what wuhks fo’ you won’t always wuhk fo’ us, right?” Majiraya asked. The Exo shrugged and began checking the room. “Your loss. Man, these guys went down pretty easily, even the Hive. I tell you, we’re just too hot for the Cosmodrome to handle.” “We still have a mission to complete,” Barego reminded. “Sagittarius, any leads on the other Guardians’ trail?” “Let me see,” her Ghost replied. “The Ghosts…They are in a clearing between buildings not far from here. That’s where the Fallen came from.” “Score!” Blacklight called out. He had jumped on top of the roof of the small room and looking around pipes. “Gold chest, baby! Ah, it’s only got some Uncommon crap in it. Well, at least we got some Glimmer out of it.” “We need to huhry befo’ the Ghosts ah lost,” Majiraya urged. They ran through hallways until they reached an open doorway to the clearing outside. Their view was blocked by a small warehouse. Inside a couple of Dregs and a Vandal snarled at their appearance, firing at them. Barego primed a pulse grenade and threw it inside the building. Electricity throbbed against the wall, chaining to the Devils and frying them. They crossed the gap into the warehouse and found a Ghost where the Vandal used to be. Its shell was marred with scratches and grit, and its optic was dark. “The Ghosts are still here!” Sagittarius exclaimed, transmatting the Ghost. “The Fallen have them. At least we know Rasputin wasn’t behind the fireteam’s disappearance.” “Does it have the codes?” Majiraya asked. “No, it’s dead and empty. I’m still picking up two more Ghost signatures in the area, though. Keep hunting!” They walked through the warehouse and came to a door that let them see the whole clearing. It was situated on a hill between three buildings, the one they came from, one on top of the hill, and one down the hill that was almost completely collapsed. In front of it were a cluster of tall black and green spires buried in the ground at odd angles, like a thorny burr. Between the two standing buildings was a helicopter pad that had a couple of the rusting vehicles still on it. On the open ground and hillside between it all, Fallen and Hive were clashing. The Fallen were from House of Devils and came out of the buildings and caves, using abandoned cargo containers and semi-trucks as cover. The Hive emerged from the broken ground under the spires, but they had purplish-black armor that was different from Gotra’s Hidden Swarm. “That’s a Hive Seeder,” Neon buzzed over their headsets, indicating the spires. “The Hive use them to invade other planets. Guess we know how they got here in the first place.” “According to Cryptarchy research, the Hive here are called the Blood of Oryx,” Equinox added. “From decrypted cyphers and runes, they believe all Hive serve a great master, and the Blood of Oryx are alleged direct servants of this dark lord.” “Is it some soht of Hive commanduh?” Majiraya asked. “Don’t know. All that matters is the name ‘Oryx’ appears too many times in Hive rituals to be ignored.” “Save the lesson for later,” Barego instructed. “Let’s split up. We have a better chance of finding the Ghosts that way. Stay careful.” “I’m always careful!” Blacklight replied as he ran up the hill toward the other building. He shot a couple Thrall charging him on the way before bounding up the hill. At the entrance to the building Fallen Dregs and Vandals were in a firefight with Hive Acolytes. The second the Exo landed amongst them, they lost all interest in each other and fired on the Guardian. Blacklight ducked behind a cargo container and reloaded his hand cannon. “Don’t drop everything you’re doing on [i]my [/i]account.” “There’s quite a few to go in just guns blazing,” Neon advised. “I’ll improvise.” Blacklight put away his gun and clenched his fist. Electricity snapped in his grip, forming a long machete made of lightning that galvanized his form. He raced out of cover and slashed Acolytes that were closing in, turning them into ions. Orbs of Light sprung up in his wake with each kill. When he felt his Arc energy dissipating, he jumped into the middle of the Fallen and attacked with a Showstopper move, obliterating the Devils with an electrifying shockwave. The machete dissipated as a dead Ghost fell from the dissolving Vandal. Neon transmatted the dead Ghost off the ground. “Nothing. Find another one!” Meanwhile, Barego and Majiraya had moved toward the battle near the helicopters. Barego kept her attention trained on the seemingly endless waves of Thrall and Acolytes pouring out of the Hive Seeder while Majiraya focused on the Fallen. He swapped his shotgun for his Proxima Centauri II scout rifle he got from the Vanguard and plugged rounds into Dregs as they were running out of the building. A Vandal stepped out of the cave near the helicopter pad, but Majiraya shot it three times in the head before it could react. A Ghost tumbled out of its claw, and Majiraya rushed forward to retrieve it. Equinox appeared over his outstretched palm and examined the old shell. “This one still holds the Codes. You didn’t die in vain, brother.” “Woohoo!” Neon exclaimed. “Let’s find the Array!”