The Fallen opened fire on us! Bolts and energy blasts struck our armor, our shields were holding but not for much longer. I punched a Fallen in the gut then stabbed its chest with a knife. I used the corpse as a shield as I shot over its shoulder. Dad stabbed a dreg with the bayonet on his rifle. The weakling squirmed more, so the titan shot it, causing its guts to explode outward. Mom force pushed a vandal into the sand then shot it before it could get up. The mob of Fallen continued to close us off from our army. They tried to cut a path to us, but it was too late. We continued to cut down the enemy. A captain snuck up behind me and cut a gash in my side. I bellowed in pain then fell into the gritty sand. The captain drew out a pistol, but a sword pierced its heart. I ripped off the captain's cloak and tied it around my waste. Behind us, I could hear the whirling noise of a cannon charging. I looked up, and my fears were true! "Take cover!" I yelled as I tried to get out of line of sight. Instead of a canister, a laser spit out of the barrel, cooking the dune and turning into glass. Dad turned to see what was wrong, but the laser sliced up his left lung! The titan flipped backwards, and face first into the sand! "Dad?!!" I screamed. I ran over and flipped over his body. A large laser burn through his armor stretched from his left shoulder to his right hip. I got up and furiously began cutting through the House of Dunes! "YOU ALL SONS OF B****ES!!" I pulled my knife free from a falling corpse, turned around, and had a shock dagger slice my stomach. I gasped for air, tried to get away then fell in the sand too! "ALAN?!!" Mom screamed. I looked at my hand, blood dripped from it. I dropped my hand and stared into the blue sky. I could see again. I looked up to see the Fallen chasing after me, but I had no strength to do anything. Someone was dragging me. Tau'la soldiers formed a pathway and were pulling us to safety. I watched as my feet left marks in the sand. A noise filled my ears-- the sound of fabric tearing. I saw my black and red cloak, my iconic cloak, torn to shreds, lying in the sand. It was ripped off my the grainy surface. We were brought into the walls of the city. Medical experts tried to heal me-- my two gashes needed to be sterilized... It burned! I screamed in agony as they tried to get the sand clear of the wounds. A couple hours later, I was laying in a bed, wrapped in bandages. Dad was also brought in. Like me, his armor was missing. Now I could see the severity of the laser. The gash in him was as big as the gash on his plasteel armor. "How are they?" Ta'Chal asked as he and Mom walked in. "My King..." said a medic, "The hunter is weak and needs rest. The titan, is dead. His ghost can't revive him... The Darkness is too strong here." I rolled my head over and stared at the motionless guardian, "Dad..." I whispered. "How long can a guardian last without being revived?" Ta'Chal asked my mom as he crossed his arms. "A guardian is officially dead if not revived after thirty-six hours, or when the ghost is destroyed afterwards," Mom held Dad's hand and began to cry. "Hunter," Ta'Chal beckoned. I rolled my head towards the warlock, "I did not believe I was asking of much, but now I see I am asking more than anyone should... If you are able, I need you to stand with me, one more time, and defeat this threat," I looked to Mom, who was choked up and tears rolled down her red face. I looked to the King, "I've already died once... I'm ready for a fight!" Mom nodded in agreement. Mom kissed Dad's head as we left the infirmary. Ta'Chal led us through the city. What felt like hundreds of explosions shook the ground, fire in the air, and buildings crumbling! We raced to the outer wall to see what was wrong! "My King, it was the walker! House of Dunes gave it twin salvo rocket launchers!" The guard took a breather. "If that thing isn't destroyed, our kingdom won't last!..." Ta'Chal shot glances here, and there, thinking. "Gather your troops, Commander! We are taking our fight to the Fallen one last time!" The wobbly walker marched across the sea of sand. Its heavy feet left massive prints where it stepped. It charged up its powerful laser and punched through two buildings, bringing them down! People panicked and fled the scene. The Fallen were close to the wall, and were still firing rockets on the city. Our reformed army charged through the gates, catching the Fallen off guard. Ta'Chal sliced several Fallen in half as he continued to charge through the horde! I was killing dreg, after dreg, after dreg with my seemingly endless supply of knives. Mom jumped into the air and threw a nova bomb into a crowd. The soldiers were kicking, punching, and shooting away the Fallen forces-- we had completely halted their parade! The Kell, outraged, jumped off of the walker and drew her sword. She grabbed the heads' of Fallen and slung them out of her way! I looked up to the walking giant, to see my cloak being worn as a dust guard around her face! Ta'Chal and Ariks clashed once again! The King dodged around behind and tried to get a hit on her spine, but the Kell reached the sword over her head and deflected the attack! She gave a powerful swing but Ta'Chal blocked that one. Both forces were skilled in sword combat! Ariks and Ta'Chal clashed blades and tried to overpower one another! Suddenly, the sky turned grim. I shot a shank out of the sky and looked around, "It's the TAKEN!!" I yelled as I stared at the massive blights throughout the clouds. Massive swirling masses formed around the desert. One even grew within the spider walker and destroyed it after dropping in troops. The fiery pile of metal slid down the mountain and killed many Fallen and humans alike! A metal plate flew off of the walker when it exploded and hit me back down the hill! I opened my eyes and blinked repeatedly, trying to see straight again. I raised my head up to listen to the sound of sand falling off. I was at the foot of the mountain again, half burried in sand. I looked around to see a soldier with an iron rod in his chest. I crawled over to the soldier to see if I could help but he placed his blood covered hand on my chest and shoved me away. His hand fell into the sand and didn't move again. I looked down at my chest to see the streaked, bloody handprint. I fell back into the sand and stared at the body. I raced up the mountain for the third time to join the fight. I got back to the top to see a walking nightmare. Phantom appeared in the battle. He threw a nova bomb between us and the family. Mom and Ta'Chal flew through the air and caused splashes of sand to fly up. I covered my face so sand wouldn't block my visor. I looked back to see Phantom standing on a captain's arm. It tried to fight back but Phantom Took it! "Colt," I whispered, "The boots... Get me the boots." "I'm not letting you do this, Alan!" Colt exclaimed. "Colt!" "I am not letting you kill yourself!!" "Colt, I am about to attack Phantom! Either you give me the boots or I [i]will[/i] die!" I yelled as I ran over to the warlock. Phantom turned to me just as I tackled him. One punch! Two! Three! Four! I wailed at the warlock, knocking his head from side to side, before he disappeared. I punched the ground in frustration! I looked around, but he was nowhere to be found. Soon, Taken energy bursts started striking the ground from the sky. We were outnumbered! Soon, several sonic booms filled our ears. We all looked up to see eight starfighters burst through a layer of clouds. They fired missiles at the blights in the sky. They began glowing white and exploding. The starfighters made a second pass and dropped eight guardians. Mom and Ta'Chal joined me as I stared in awe. Our reinforcements walked up to us, and from behind, Dad joined. The added Light of the new guardians let Dad's ghost revive him. The warlock stood ahead of everyone else, "We heard you could use some aid out here..."