Tac waited for another blow to the stomach, then slumped forward. As she expected, the Titan holding her arms released his grip - he surely expected her to crumple to the ground - and the Striker whirled on him. She whipped her hands up to cover her damaged face, then snapped an Arc-charged fist toward his helmet. The blow connected, and she followed it up with a front kick that sent him sprawling eight feet down the sidewalk. Expecting a blow to the head, she pivot-crouched. The maneuver left Mursor over extended as his target left him with open air, and he stumbled in an effort to remain upright. Tac stood, grabbed his wrist, and sidled close. She drove an elbow into his ribs and shifted her weight, throwing him over her shoulder. By that time, the other Titan had recovered and was rushing her. She avoided a Void-cased fist, absently realized that Mursor’s friend was a Defender, and retaliated with a side kick to the Titan’s gut. He let out a muffled [i]“Oomph”[/i] as he was hurled into the grass. Tac finally decided she was curious about this mysterious Defender. [i]<Lumen, find out who that Guardian is.>[/i] She pivoted again, but Mursor hadn’t yet moved to engage her. The Ghost was silent for several seconds. [i]<That would be Kellis. Rumor has it he was suspended from the Crucible for illegal armor and weapon modifications.>[/i] [i]<I suppose I should’ve expected that.>[/i] Tac heard the Defender grunt as he heaved himself up from the ground behind her. She noted that the fighting had left her directly between her assailants, and that if they opted to attack simultaneously, she would have little room to maneuver. As if sensing the tenor of her thoughts, both Titans charged. Tac waited until they were close enough to tackle her, then rolled out from between them. They compensated and turned to face her, renewing their assault. The Exo didn’t give them a chance to overwhelm her. She skipped backward to give herself room and widened her stance. In a flare of blue-white brilliance, Arc Light rippled across Tac’s body, popping, fizzing and snapping as it enveloped her limbs. She opened a palm, and a spear of Arc Light blinked to life. The Striker leveled the weapon at her onrushing opponents, and they stopped short. [i]<Lumen, if you would.>[/i] A sense of relief washed over her damaged face and torso as Lumen began his repairs, but she remained watchful of the Titans in front of her, lest they continue their assault. They split up and began to circle. Her right eye flickered to life, allowing her to track their movements. Wary of being flanked, Tac spun and pounced at Kellis first. The motion caught him off-guard, and he made no move to dodge the spear as the Striker swung it in a wide arc for his head. The weapon smashed into the Defender’s helmet, cracking the visor and denting the plasteel out of shape. The Titan staggered as he shook off the shock. Tac twirled the spear and rounded on Mursor, who halted mid-charge and lifted his arms in a high cross guard. He caught the downward stroke on his bracers and reached to grab the weapon himself, but the Exo had already pulled it out of reach. She spun the spear like a bowstaff and thrust forward with the shaft, catching Mursor square in the stomach. He doubled over coughing, and Tac spun to find that Kellis had summoned his own Light. The Defender was haloed in violet luminescence, a shield of Void Light in his left hand and a sword - also made of Void Light - in his right. He charged, and Tac met him. She sidestepped a thrust aimed for her chest, knocked the sword out of line with the tip of her spear, and reposted with a thrust of her own. Kellis’s shield took the blow. Tac followed up with a stab at the Defender’s sword arm, but he flicked his wrist and beat the spear away with his sword. He whipped the flat of his blade into her temple and shoved her away with his shield. Tac staggered backward, dazed, but kept moving. She continued to backpedal, but stopped short when metal rang against the sidewalk behind her. She could hear the concrete shatter under the force of the blow, and turned to confront the new threat. Ruddy flames danced across Mursor’s frame as he brandished his fiery Hammer of Sol, which in his case had a handle nearly as long as that of Tac’s spear. The head of the weapon lay embedded in the sidewalk, where the Sunbreaker had planted it upon summoning his Light. He hefted the hammer and swung it at Tac’s shoulder, forcing the Striker to retreat back into Kellis’s reach. She crouched and sprang, leaping over the Defender’s head to interpose him between herself and the charging Sunbreaker. [i]‘It seems Akrin was right,’[/i] she mused, [i]‘these two have definitely advanced beyond the basics of Light.’[/i] [i]<But,>[/i] Lumen interjected, [i]<so have you. Akrin may have been right about the Crucible and its advantages, but you’ve honed your Light in other ways. Still, it would be prudent to avoid being struck. These two spend a lot of time fighting Guardians. You don’t.>[/i]