------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [b]Eris Morn, Part III:[/b] [i]Into The Canyon (Dropping Like Flies)[/i] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I took point along with Omar, followed by Eriana and Sai. Behind them came Toland and the mighty Vell Tarlowe who brought up the rear guard. We entered the canyon with our weapons forward and our eyes up. Everything had gone according to plan so far, but now was not the time to get complacent. I took a quick glance behind me to make sure the other teams were keeping up. They were. I turned back and continued forward. We rounded a bend; about halfway through the canyon if our intelligence was correct, when the attack came. I heard a loud explosion and spun around. On top of both sides of the canyon I saw a pair of Boomers, weapons smoking in their hands. I looked down and saw the entire rear fire team down, their ghosts battered and broken next to their still smoldering corpses. “Stupid.” I muttered and shook my head. They must have been moving with their ghosts alongside when they were hit and now we had to pay for their mistake. In a matter of seconds we lost a third of our force all because of a rookie mistake. “Tarlowe!” I yelled as the boomers turned toward us. “On it boss.” Vell moved to the center of our group and threw up his hands. A purple light erupted from his body and came to a stop forming a dome just above our heads. Tarlowe dropped to one knee, his strength sapped. An instant later the dome was swallowed in a blaze of white fire as the explosive rounds landed on top of us. We were pinned down. “Take a knee!” I shouted over the noise. Everyone circled up and dropped, leaning in. “This shield is not going to last long,” I said, looking at each of them. “Omar - go.” Omar nodded. An instant later he went invisible, sheathed in the light, and was gone. I gave everyone a brief moment to catch their breath. “Omar is scouting ahead. We need to drop these Boomers before our shield fails and we have no protection. Eriana and I will lay down cover fire on separate sides. Once their shields are up, Sai will bounce out on Eriana’s side to take them down. Vell, how are you doing?” “I’ll be ready,” he said, shaking off my question. “Vell will worry about the ones on my side. Once they are down we will regroup the second team and continue working our way down. Any questions?” “How did they know we were coming? How did they know we were here?” Eriana asked “I thought this…I thought we…” “Boss” Vell interrupted. I nodded. “Time is up. Eriana, are you ready?” Eriana did not reply. “Eriana!” I shouted. Eriana shook her head and snapped out of the daze she was in. She reached down and grabbed her rifle off the ground, then looked up and me and nodded. “Move!” I shouted. In a single motion I stood, spun around, and raised my pistol, ending outside the shield wall. An instant later I was firing at the two boomers on my side of the canyon. Boomer Knights, or Boomers as well liked to call them, stood about eight feet tall and had a very thick hide that couldn’t be pierced by standard weaponry. They carry large arc weapons ,which are rumored to contain a shard of a dead celestial body and fire bolts of rotting starfire - a perfect siege weapon. They would be near perfect killing machines if it were not for one major flaw; Boomer Knights scared easily. I landed two well-placed shots between the eyes of both Boomers. The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off into the sky, but they did their job. Both monsters flinched, drew back a step, and threw up a shield wall between us. As they cowered behind their shield it gave us a moment of respite to react without them knowing what we were doing. I turned to my left just in time to see the Boomers on the other side put up their shields as well. Eriana had been on the mark, and not a moment too soon as our bubble shield evaporated. Tarlowe tapped me on the shoulder and I took a couple steps back. “Lighting them up!” he shouted, and fired two rockets from his launcher. The rockets whizzed through the air, leaving a trail of smoke behind them as they tracked their targets. The first shell made direct contact with a Boomer shield and had little effect. As soon as the shell made contact however, it split into numerous smaller projectiles that tracked around the shield and came up behind to hit the Boomer and take it down. I turned to Tarlowe, “Wolf pack rounds?” “Never leave home without them!” he smiled. The other rocket hit its mark just after the second Boomer’s shield went down. The initial impact dropped the beast before splitting like its brother into numerous smaller rounds. With no enemies to track however, they spun off and slammed into the ground. The subsequent explosions caused a small landslide down the side of the canyon. My eyes tracked the falling rubble to the rocky floor just in time to see the second fire team surrounded up by a host of thrall. Before I had a chance to react however, they were completely overwhelmed. Beyond them I could see wave after wave of thrall pouring into the canyon. We could not go back; forward was our only option now. Thrall are easily distinguishable on the battlefield. They are brown and white in color with long claws and resemble the look of a skeleton due to the bone-link armor fused to their bodies. What really sets them apart however is their lack of eyes. Where sockets would normal be there is a solid dome at the top of their head stretching from nostril to the back of their skull. Thrall do not carry weapons, but instead rely on their razor sharp claws as a primary method of attack. In small numbers they are not a threat, but in numbers this great, an overwhelming force. I turned to my left just in time to see Sai take down their last Boomer with a shot between the eyes. He always kept a supply of armor piercing, high caliber rounds, on him - his preferred ammo for killing Knights. Their production cost made them prohibitively expensive, but in times like this, invaluable. If there was a better trained, more prepared sniper out there - I was yet to find him. I grabbed Toland and shoved him back the direction we were headed before the ambush. “We are moving.” I shouted, waving my hand to the rest of the team. “Firefly rounds if you have them. Sai take point. Eriana and I will cover our rear. Tarlowe, stick with Toland.” We were on the move once more. The ambush had only stalled us for a couple minutes, but it had now cost us two thirds of our strike force. As we continued forward Eriana and I worked on slowing the progress of the coming waves of thrall. Armed with an Auto Assault Rifle, Eriana provided a constant stream of fire, mowing down line after line of the onslaught. “Reloading!” She shouted. I pulled up my pistol, squeezed the trigger and my first shot found a home within the skull of a charging thrall. Equipped with firefly rounds, once the shell reached its mark the target exploded, taking out a ten-meter radius with it. When I needed a reload Eriana took over until her clip was empty and the process began anew. We weren’t gaining any ground, but neither were they. Their plan must have been to box us in and drive us deeper, because while we were facing an overwhelming force from behind, the path ahead was clear. We came to another bend in the canyon and after turning the corner knew we had found what we were looking for. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/104376836/0/0]Part I[/url], [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/108098561]Part II[/url], [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/108098900]Part III[/url], [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/108099088]Part IV[/url], [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/108588739/0/0]Part V[/url] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------