Orion trudged back to the beacon he had to check, when he heard a crackling coming from his comms. As he walked, he turned them on. “Orion. So- g- jt opp- ear- o- Le- canne-. ver.” The hunter frowned. “Lyla, please repeat that, Over.” then, something made him hesitate. Dozens of tracks around the broken beacon. It’s head was broken off, and there were marks and holes in the snow around him. “Orio- gt- t- ere- OW!” the comms crackled again. Orion was too distracted to notice Lyla’s urgent warnings, as well as the claw slowly emerging from the snow behind him. With a screech, something slammed a sharp pain into his thigh and tried to pull him under the snow. Grunting with pain and surprise, he unsheathed his knife and slammed it down into his assailant’s arm, causing it to crumble into dust. “What the hell?!” he yelled, as a bony shape burst from the snow and pounced on him. Locking a gauntlet onto it’s throat, he slashed it’s head with the knife and killed it, only to be attacked by another monster. He turned around and pulled a pistol from his pocket, blasting it’s legs out from under it and striking quickly with his knife. “AGH!” he screamed, as another assailant locked teeth and claws into his leg, knocking him over. He slammed it over and over with his fist, and rolled away covered in greasy black ash. “LYLA!” he screamed into the comms. “IT’S THE HI-” an enormous weight interrupted him, bringing him to the ground, and he felt sharp claws slice into his shoulders blades. He screamed as the beast delicately opened a maw full of jagged teeth and locked onto his helmet, dragging him around and then shaking him like a dog with a rat until his neck broke with a muffled crunching noise. “Orion! I go-” his Ghost Spark said, before being slashed from the air by a pair of claws. It fell from the air, weakly flickering as the monster looked it directly in it’s one eye. Then, it turned to the survey beacon and closed it’s jaws over the top of it. Lyla watched as the feed went black in complete horrified silence. Nite started shaking, and begin convulsing in a seizure. Semper materialized next to her and hovered over her. “Lyla. Lyla! Nite’s having a seizure! LYLA HELP!” the Ghost yelled, trembling like a leaf. Lyla stood up, trembling, and ran over to where her friend lay on the ground. “LYLA. HIVE SEEDERS APPROACHING THE MOUNTAINS AND VALLEY NEARBY.” Leopold informed her, confused. Leo said. “Leo? Oh Traveler, uh, go help Arkin or something. Sound an alarm! ANYTHING!” Leo went through the bunkers systems to do just that, as Lyla tried to snap Nite out of her seizure. “Lyla, we don't have time.” Semper said. “I KNOW!” The Warlock hissed, and with a snap judgement she curled a fist and struck Nite with a quick strike that immediately knocked her unconscious, eyes rolling back into her head. Lyla carried Nite over her shoulders in a firewomans carry and walked out of the office as Arkin nearly knocked her over. “My lady! What's happening?” He asked nervously. “The Hive are attacking the base.” She responded. As if on cue, Leo’s voice echoed throughout the entire base. “ALERT, ATTACKERS CLOSING IN. ALERT, ATTACKERS CLOSING IN.” Lyla looked from Arkin to the main door and back again, and then dumped the semi conscious Nite onto the floor. “Get her out of here.” With an intense glare at the main door, she unsheathed her sword, little sparks of Solar light lighting up the blade’s surface. “But what about you?” He asked urgently. “I'll manage. Go on, get to the hangar.” He hesitated. “GO!” She yelled at him, her voice completely even. Bending over to pick up Nite, Arkin fell over on top of her, stumbling due to her weight and waking the guardian up. “Ahhh… guhhh…” she mumbled. At the end of the hallway, Lyla stared down the door. “Leopold? What is the status on the door?” She asked him calmly. An explosion rocked the bunker. “20 PERCENT.” He said. The metal creaked and groaned, and with another blast it was torn partially open. The bony shoulders of a Knights bent the doors out of the way, roaring. In response, Lyla stood stone still, like a statue. “You may scream. You may roar, you may claw my eyes out, but goddamnit, I swear to the Traveler and the Light above that you will not pass me.” She whispered, holding out her sword and pointing it at the oncoming horde. Then, with a soft prayer, she bounded towards the Hive and set her sword aflame. Now fully awake, Nite almost screamed as she watched her friend throw herself into the Hive’s teeth. Nite struggled and actually knocked Atkin over, weak as he was, and started running over to Lyla, when Leo spoke. “NO, ASYRA. LYLA DID NOT GIVE HER LIFE FOR NOTHING. GO, OR I WILL STOP YOU.” Nite did not stop. Then Lyla spoke. “I MAY DIE HERE, BUT I SWEAR ON THE OLD GODS AND THE NEW THAT YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER! DEATH TO THE ENEMIES OF THE LIGHT!” She roared, swinging her sword and incinerating a circle of Hive around her. Nite almost stumbled, but kept going, until a pipe next to her burst. “NITE! STOP!” Leo urged. The eyes of the two guardians met over that distance, and Lyla smiled sweetly, silently telling her what Nite already knew she would say. Hatches opened in the walls, and two defensive guns opened fire on her, clipping her leg and putting her down temporarily. “NO!” She screamed, as Arkin helped her up and walked her towards the checkpoint. From another hatch in the wall, a combat frame emerged, restraining Nite’s legs and forbidding them from moving. The two barely managed to wrangle her into a jump ship. After an eternity of terror and anticipation, Arkin took control of the jump ship, and blasted it out of the hangar. Lyla watched from the window as Hive covered a single spot on the ground, where Lyla stood over a pile of ash and bones. Laughing, Lyla lifted her blade, and driving it down with the power of Daybreak she erupted into a column of bright orange flame that hurt Nite’s eyes. When the dust cleared, nothing was left except steam and smoke, and a massive pit before the bunker’s entrance. Wearily, Nite fell back and cried. The Knights of Dawn had fallen. So for some reason, I can't post any comments? That's weird. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed!