Hey Guardians! Sorry so late and split in two, but I had a lot to do these past couple weeks. If you missed [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/208221843?page=0&sort=0&showBanned=0&path=1]Part 6: Purpose[/url], check it out now! Let's check back in with Fireteam Indigo! “GET THIS -blam!-ER OFF ME!” The dreg had successfully gotten the drop on us—on me—and I could feel how strong this creature truly was. I would have been dead if not for my armor’s shields…or if it wasn’t missing two arms. Sul’leth and Perry reacted much more quickly than I had anticipated; each of them grabbed an arm of the creature and chucked it toward the nearest wall. The dreg made a sickening smack as it hit with the wall. Two black spikes crackling with electricity fell out of its hands upon collision.[i] “NO! DON’T!”[/i] My Ghost yelled as I went to investigate. I felt my feet lift from the ground as a bright blue electric explosion fiercely danced toward me; its arms outstretched wishing to carry me to Death’s door once again. Fortunately, Perry was the cause of my weightlessness. He had grabbed my shoulders and jumped backwards as if I weighed nothing at all. I was stunned. “So, that was close…”I muttered, embarrassed that it was I that was ambushed and nearly disintegrated. “Thanks.” “Of course, Zoë,” Perry released me and we climbed to our feet, venturing deeper inside the Wall. Around the corner we approached a large room lined with tanks for some kind of chemical, or water, or something—I wasn’t able to focus on anything for long other than the battle cries of more Fallen. Dregs fell from the ceiling vents and as soon as they hit the ground, bullets placed with deadly accuracy quelled their screams. We moved as a unit, calling out vandals—my Ghost started calling the four armed demons vandals—and dregs as they appeared to attack us. “There’s more ahead! Keep it up!” The Ghosts praised our progress. Our potential. With each heads-up given, another enemy fell until we found ourselves in a hallway standing on a rusty bridge in front of a rather large, gold and black chest; the top of which was bubbly and green lights shone from where a key would have gone. It emitted a twinkling sound that drew each of us toward it. “A loot cache. Let’s see what’s inside,” suggested my Ghost. “How do I open it? There’s no keyhole.” [i]“It reacts to your Light.”[/i] “I’ll do it, Perry reached forward and just as he was about to make contact with the chest, it opened with a glimmering light. When the light faded, three sniper rifles appeared lying on the bottom of the chest. As I felt the gun out and peered through the scope, we heard more roars. “Well,” I said while slinging my auto rifle over my shoulder, “it looks like somebody up there likes us.” Calcutta-LR2 appeared inside my helmet. The momentum we gained from slaying a room full of enemies coupled with a new, more powerful weapon sent the three of us pressing forward, almost at a full sprint when— [i]“TRIP MINES! DON’T…TOUCH THEM!”[/i] The deep voice of Sully’s Ghost warned us sharply. “Where—“ I started to ask but my answer came as vapors passed through the lasers marking the traps laid for us. We crouched beneath the two bright red lasers in front of us, unharmed. Caution replaced our bravado. As we passed a second set of mines, a dreg popped out of a floor vent in front of us, screeching. “MINE!” Sully barked. Then the dreg was no more. As we entered another large room, an ambush was waiting for us…shocker. Vandals and dregs appeared like roaches; only these vermin wished to extinguish our Light, not run from it. The blue blasts of energy from the enemy guns spiraled in the air as they altered course to seek out our fireteam. “Sully! Take the far side! Perry! With me!” The orders came naturally and were followed in the same way. We took position amidst the chaos and with our ‘call it, shoot it’ system, we cleared another room full of bloodthirsty Fallen. [i]“The Fallen have a tighter hold on this place than I thought. Just a little bit further. Let’s hope there’s still something left out there…” [/i]My Ghost seemed to be attempting to mask his uncertainty. We followed our waypoints through a slightly flooded tunnel, our boots squishing in the unknown contents of the sludge beneath us. Two large, corroded fans spun slowly, a reminder of their former purpose. Ruse fell off the wire gates that housed the fans; we passed through a hole in the first and ventured down an adjacent path upon approaching the second. The pathway opened to a large field, riddled with large structures reaching to the skies asking the same questions raised on the day they were erected— ‘Why?’ [i]“This used to be an old Cosmodrome. There’s got to be something we can fly out of here,”[/i] my Ghost said wishfully. “Only one way to find out,” I said as we walked past a small shack. “So when we DO find a ship—who’s flying it?” My Ghost seemed offended. [i]“I’ll take care of—“[/i] A singular red flare shot into the sky; what it was meant to signal soon became apparent. One of the distant towers was enveloped in a translucent shockwave before it imploded and began crumbling down to the earth. A large cloud of blue energy followed the tower’s collapse. Then, seemingly from nowhere, a massive vessel descended from orbit—then another—and another— [i]“Fallen ships! This close to the surface?!”[/i] My Ghost was not attempting to hid his worry any longer. The small fleet’s arrival caused the ground to tremble with great force. [i]“Fight through them!”[/i] [i]“HONESTLY! As if we had any choice! Go, Perry! Go!”[/i] Mrs. P. was cheering her Guardian on amidst the invasion. “You ready, Sul’leth?” [i]*BANG!*[/i] A vandal holding on to a drop ship fell lifeless into a mud pool on the ground. [i]*BANG!* *BANG!*[/i] A dreg howled and grabbed a hole that appeared in its shoulder. When it made eye contact with where the bullet came from, it rolled for cover behind— [i]*BANG!*[/i] Its body rolled with its evasive momentum and then it moved no more. “Nice sh—“ [i]*BANG![/i] Now only one dreg remained, cowering behind a large chunk of cement. “Move up! We got him!” My confidence was fueled by both our progress inside the Wall and Sully’s near perfect marksmanship. We charged across the field, hungry for battle. We approached the dreg’s cover. I could hear its short breaths border on hyperventilation when it noticed our close proximity. Then, it ran into the nearest building. “After it!” I watched it disappear around a corner and when I almost had it within arms’ reach, I was met with a group of vandals and dregs, accompanied by four of the floating turrets. “OPEN FIRE! OPEN FIRE! OPEN FIRE!” I turned around immediately, yelling to my fireteam. A dreg caught my ankle and pulled me toward it. Behind my captor was a turret waiting to finish the job. I pulled out the large knife holstered to my thigh and slashed the dreg on its knee then drove the blade deep into its skull. The turret opened fire on me as I laid on the ground, using my victim as a shield. Not long after I saw the blasts of blue light flashing around me, I heard several rounds of gunfire and then drones of machinery powering down followed by small explosions and final breaths. “Thanks, guys,” I said to my team, pushing the now porous dreg to the side. “How much—“ I thought more drop ships were coming in due to the immense and uncontrollable shaking I felt. I noticed the same was happening to my compatriots. Then, a small burst of light erupted, then dissipated from each of us. “I feel…stronger…” Sully started, “Ghost…?” [i]“You are growing more attuned to the Light. Each minion of the Darkness that falls before you strengthens your bond to the Traveler.”[/i] “The what?” [i]“We don’t have time. We’re too close,”[/i] my Ghost ushered us out of our conversation before it could begin.[i] ”You must now use your Light as a weapon. You may think of it as a grenade if it helps you focus.”[/i] “I don’t even know where to st—“ I looked to my left and Sully was holding a…well, he was holding a sun between his hands. “How the--?” “Ghost, it appears as if my grenade is much smaller,” Perry said as he held a small cube of purple light. “Did I do this incorrectly?” [i]“Absolutely not, Perry dear! Throw it at that pile of shanks,”[/i] (yeah, she called the floating auto turret a ‘shank’). He willingly obliged and we watched some of the pile disintegrate into purple nothingness and the other pieces of shrapnel pinged off our shields and stuck into various parts of the wall. Then, it exploded again. [i]“It’s your turn, Zoë. I know you can feel the Light inside you. Concentrate, then focus it, “[/i] Coach Ghost said as he hovered around my helmet. “Ok. Here goes.” The first thing I felt was warmth, then a dull pulse followed by the appearance of a grenade in my hand; it crackled with electricity. “So I just—“ [i]“Throw it,”[/i] my Ghost finished my sentence and waited patiently as I drew my arm back and hurled the grenade past the smoldering pile of shanks. It hit the wall with a slight hiss, then crepitated on the ground before exploding with an unsatisfactory ‘pop’. “So, a portable sun, a double exploder, and I got what? This dinky nothing?” [i]“Every weapon gifted by the Light has more power than meets the eye,”[/i] Sully’s Ghost was trying to help—to no avail. “But what about when it’s powerful AND meets the eye? Come on! Ghost, you—“ [i]“I’m picking up signs of an old jump ship. Could be our ticket out of here,”[/i] he said, not phased by my poor disposition. I held on to my irritation for later. Sul’leth took point, determined to get as far away from the Cosmodrome as possible. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/208651828]Part 7.0.2[/url]