Part 2 Inside the MAC gun, Velox watched as the snow melted away from the camera screens and the night sky started to appear on the gigantic dome view screen above her. The shoulder straps on the seat came down and synched her in tight. The chair lifted off the ground five feet and then rotated to where she was laying back looking up at the dome sky. The view screen loaded elevation, projected trajectory, minutes of angle, and other targeting data as well as a convenient cross hair. She grabbed the joystick and forced it down. The sky moved and soon she was able to see the horizon. “You cant fire yet. The magnetic charging isn’t complete. It will be another forty seconds.” Nymph called out. “Let me know the second I am able to fire!” she yelled still forcing the joystick down. The ancient weapon moaned and groaned with a sickening metallic noise as the barrel lowered towards the shield. Just as the top of the dome was coming into view, a red line appeared and an alarm sounded. “Warning, vertical limit reached. You cannot fire without endangering U.S. Military personnel and property. Manual and automatic firing is disabled.” “Nymph we might have a problem.” “Working on it. I have to go into the safety protocol and erase the vertical limit……” “Don’t need to know how you are doing it. Just let me know when it is done!” She yelled as the whirring sound began to intensify. Azrix turned around to see the huge barrel of the MAC gun rotating downward towards the shield. He could see electric arcs starting to skip and flash along the gigantic magnetic coils that formed the majority of the barrel. It was impressive to watch and he wondered how loud it would be. Just then, he heard the gust of air as the void cloud transported its passenger to the ground. His heart sank. A gate lord had dropped to the ground. The force of it hitting the ground, made the earth shake. It stood up and drew a huge torch hammer off its back in one hand and with the other reached for something else mounted on its waist. It looked like a sword nearly ten feet in length. “Great so this one comes with a sword.” He exclaimed to himself. A purple crackling electricity that he assumed was concentrated void energy began tracing the blade. The gate lord swung at a large rock jutting from the ground and Azrix watched in horror as the blade passed through it like a hot knife through butter. The rock was not cut. It simply disappeared wherever the void energy touched it. “This day is just getting worse by the second.” He sprinted to the right trying to draw the huge machine away from the MAC gun while firing his assault rifle. It gave chase and started returning fire with its torch hammer. He jumped and dodged his way to the far side where the gondola was. His rifle rounds had barely managed to scratch the huge metal plating. He was going to have to try something else. “Nymph, what the status on the vertical limit thing?” She asked thinking about Azrix alone outside. “Another couple seconds and it will…..Done.” The red line on the view screen disappeared and the alarm stopped sounding. The whirling sound had become nearly unbearable. Velox was looking around the room watching Nymph scan feverishly. “Magnetic charge sequence is at ninety percent. Able to fire in seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Fire.” Velox depressed the red button on the joystick and the world was torn asunder. Azrix turned to look at the weapon. Electricity flickered along the magnetic coils of the barrel lighting up the whole mountain. It literally looked like the barrel of the gun was made of pure electricity. There was a bright flash as the depleted uranium round the size of a couch screamed out of the barrel near twenty two thousand feet per second. The shockwave kicked snow into the air as it approached Azrix and the gate lord. He was thrown in the air and landed on his back. Quickly getting back on his feet, he saw the gate lord laying on its back trying to get up. He knew he had to use it now or he might not be able to kill the thing. He jumped up in the air using all the boost he could. Nearly thirty feet up, he activated all the stored energy he had accumulated over the last few days. He cocked back his fist and aimed it towards his enemy. With lightning speed he came down on the gate lords abdomen with every ounce of energy he had. The white glowing orb crushed under the immense strain and a white oily substance leaked out of it painting Azrix. The machination twitched slightly and then became still. He got up and staggered slightly. Then, turning to look at the MAC gun, his heart sank. Velox awoke still strapped into the chair and immediately knew something was wrong. The room had been turned sideways and sparks were flying all over. She tried releasing the shoulder harness that held her in place but to no avail. Smoke started coming from somewhere and soon there was a fire burning out of one of the computer terminals on the wall. She struggled trying to free herself but nothing was working. She pulled out her blade and set to cutting at anything trying to get free. The smoke was washing over her now and her lungs burned. Her mask must have been damaged in the explosion. Just as she was giving up, she heard a loud metallic crunch as something made its way into the room. The shoulder harness wrenched away from her with a metallic twang of snapping steel. She looked up and saw a titan standing over her. “Mark?” she managed to cough out. The image of her dead team mate made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. He looked exactly like Mark. The same armor, the same color, even the way he moved as he picked her up out of the chair. Time slowed as she stared up at the white helmet of her dead team member. No, her friend. A thousand memories came rushing back to her. All the time they had spent together and all they had done both in the wilderness and city alike. She was crying under her mask. From the smoke or the memories she didn’t know. As they emerged outside in the bright moon light she saw that the helmet didn’t belong to her friend, it was different as well as the arms that carried her. This was not her lost team mate. She then remembered the events of the past twenty four hours. “Azrix.” she gasped now struggling to get out of his arms and onto her feet. She struggled and wormed until he let her down. She tried planting her feet on the ground but her knees buckled and she nearly fell. Azrix caught her arm and slowly let her descend into a sitting position. They sat there for a few minutes while Velox tried to catch her breath. Finally she spoke. “Where is Nymph?” her voice was hoarse. “He is alright.” Nymph appearing over his shoulder. “He guided me in to you.” “And Gaia?” “She is fine, she was with Nymph.” “I do apologize for that. I wasn’t sure if the platform was going to be able to handle a forty five degree firing angle. The hydraulic shock absorbers weren’t designed for it.” “I don’t even care right now. I’m just glad I’m alive.” “Well we better get moving. The hole torn in the shield is actually repairing itself. It’s like its alive almost.” The two got up and began walking back to the gondola. Azrix had a visible limp in his left leg. Velox was in no better shape. She had a small gash in her should from something flying around inside the room and hitting her. “By the way, I analyzed that signal and there is something very odd about it.” Gaia said. “What do you mean?” Nymph asked now curious as to why he had not done the same thing minutes ago. “That shield, I think it is meant to keep that signal in. The signal isn’t Vex. I don’t know what it is.” “So you are saying the Vex put that shield around the building to block the signal?” “Yes.” Hope you guys enjoyed chapter 7! Chapter 8 will be out [b]around[/b] next Friday. Leave a comment if you want me to message you when it is out. Please do not hold back with your criticism. I need to know if i am doing something wrong or leaving something out. I will adjust fire in the next chapters based on your guys input and try to make changes. Chapter Index can be found here: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/102926644/0/0