[b]Welcome once again Guardians. Thank you for sticking with me through four(ish) chapters. As always, feedback and criticism is encouraged and appreciated. Also, I apologize in advance for the lengthy read, but hopefully you guys can handle it. Lastly, if you missed any previous chapters, here's a link to the Chapter Index: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/128755126/0/0/1[/b] [u]Chapter 4: The Words[/u] Ventryx stared down at the pile of bodies that lay before her and her small group of Fallen. She grimaced as the rancid smell of charred flesh was blown towards her; her senses invaded and tortured. "Belox," she called, anger in her voice, "Give me an analysis, are they ours?" The Vandal jumped down from a decaying tree. He walked around the bodies, studying their armor and wounds, "Yeah, it's one of our patrol groups, hard to tell with the armor and the....ash." he replied, gesturing to the gray-armored Fallen. He looked out at the green woods and mountains, scanning the landscape, "Looks like they were ambushed, their bodies taken and burnt by a small party, 3 or 4 at the most...with extreme prejudice. Someone's trying to send us a message. Also, there are traces of Wire Rifle shots, but they're not ours." The Baroness snarled, "A message? Ha! This is the doing of those wretched Devils! How dare Riksis betray us? Greevis, get the Skiff, we' are going to sho-- " "Ma'am." Belox interrupted. "What?!" she growled. "Ma'am, it wasn't the Devils that did this. No...This was done by Guardians." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Get up maggots!" The Overseer roared, "Let's move, let's move. Rorschach, that means you!!" Rorschach opened his eyes. Sighing, he groggily lifted himself off the cold floor. After taking his daily Ether ration, he put the orange chest-plate over his head, flinching when it came in contact with his scars from the other day. He fumbled with the straps for a few seconds, and then slid his cell gate open. Shuffling out of the Compound, he followed the Overseer to the armory. [i]"Another day of boring labor."[/i] he thought. "Damn, do I hate this place." He muttered as he stepped into the room. He grabbed a can of cleaning agent and a cloth from the shelf and went to his station. As he neared his station, he grabbed a shock pistol and began to disassemble it, exposing all of the worn out parts. As Rorschach was finishing up the core, he noticed that the Overseer was talking to someone outside of the room. Rorschach couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but he thought he heard part of his name. He squinted his eyes to try to make out the figure, but they were tucked away in the shadows. He quickly turned back to his gun just as The Overseer looked in his direction. [i]"Woo, that was close."[/i] he thought. "Rorschach!" The Captain growled, "Get over here." [i]"Crap, now I'm in for it."[/i] Rorschach got up from his bench. The other Dregs snickered as he walked over to the Overseer, but soon became quiet when he flashed a glare. He glanced up when he got to the Captain, trying to get a glimpse of the mysterious figure, but to no avail. "Ahem, you called for me sir?" Rorschach stood straight, but looked down at the ground. He had learned the hard way that you only lay eyes on the Overseer if he gave his permission to do so, and he had the fresh bruise to prove it. The Overseer looked down at Rorschach. Even though he was only a Captain, he towered over the little Dreg. "What are you doing over there, runt?" Rorschach held up the shock core, "Cleaning a shock pistol Sir." The Captain grunted. "I see, and do I look like a shock pistol that needs to be cleaned?" "No sir." he muttered "What was that, runt?" "No Sir!" he shouted The Captain crossed his arms, "Good. Then you will keep your eyes down at your station, unless you want to be punished... [i]again [/i]. Understood?!" Rorschach winced as he mentioned the punishment, the scars on his back itching as he thought about it. "Yes sir!" "Dismissed!" Rorschach walked back to his station. As he did so, the Overseer continued his conversation. This time, Rorschach could've sworn he heard his name along with a few other words. [i]Dead Zone, Guardians...Ambushed Scouts. [/i] "What the heck is a dead zone, and what do Guardians have to do with it?" he whispered. [i]"Agh, I can't get distracted about it right now, I've got to focus."[/i] But he couldn't focus. No matter how many guns he took apart and put back together, no matter how many times he scrubbed that one mark on a shoulder plate, he couldn't stop thinking about what he had heard and what it could mean. Unfortunately, the day ended quickly, along with what little distraction he had. Before Rorschach knew it, he was walking down the tunnels back to the Compound, with the words still fresh in his mind. "Rorschach, hey Rorschach." the Dreg turned. Taliks, one of the few friends that he had made here, ran up to him. The weary Dreg grinned, "Hey Taliks, what is it?" "Did you happen to see who Boss was talkin' too? I thought you might've 'cause well, you know." She looked down as she walked, cautious about where she stepped, though there was nowhere for her to fall. Rorschach sighed, off course Taliks would bring that up, "No, I didn't catch who they were. But I did hear a few words that they said: Dead Zone, Guardians, and Ambushed Scouts. Any ideas on what Boss could have been talking about?" Taliks stopped when they reached the entrance to the Compound. She waited until some Vandals passed by them to speak, "Hmm... I've got a few. But Rorschach, you're going to need to come to my cell after curfew, it's not safe to talk out here in the open, rumors could spread easily, and the next thing you know, we'll both be flayed alive." Rorschach raised his eyebrow, "Are you serious? But won't going to your cell be," he lowered his voice and looked around, "I don't know, breaking the rules?" Taliks shrugged, and tousled Rorshach's crest of hair, "Yeah I guess, but it'll be fine. Just make sure you're there." Rorschach shook his head and sighed, "Alright Taliks, I'll be there. But if I get caught, I'm blaming it on you." Taliks nodded, "Understood." She then held out her left hand, and Rorschach shook it. After departing with Taliks, Rorschach made his way to his cell. He took off the bulky chest-plate and threw it to the ground, happy that he could remove it. After pacing in his cell for a minute or two, he finally sat against the wall, waiting for Boss to call curfew. When curfew finally was called, Rorschach perked up. He stood and stretched his legs. He inched his cell gate open, as to not wake the others, and slipped through. With difficulty, he made his way across the dimly lit hallway and to Taliks' open cell. "Okay, Taliks, I'm here," he whispered "Now tell me, what do those words mean?" "Patience, Rorschach. Here, sit." she tapped the floor in front of her. "Alright, here's what I've come up with so far: I think Dead Zone is referring to the human name for one of the places that we overran; Lon, Lon...” "London?" Rorschach finished. "Yeah London was a part of it. How did you know--uh, nevermind. Anyways, [i]we [/i] didn't take over it, but we helped the House of Devils by supplying them with numbers and weapons. It gave them the upper hand in a lot of battles against the Guardians. Now though, the humans call it Ero--no, European Dead Zone." Rorschach nodded his head, "And what about the Guardians? What are they doing in the Dead Zone if we have control over it? Taliks shrugged, "My best guess is that they want it back. Wouldn't blame them, It must've been pretty back then- back before we came in and destroyed them." There was a hint of pity and sadness in her voice. "Taliks, what are you saying? Guardians are liars, and thieves, we have no reason to feel bad for them." Taliks looked down at the floor, "I don't know, Rorschach, don't you think it’s wrong that we just invaded their home and slaughtered them? I do, that's why I'm-----" She was interrupted by a loud clang. Someone was out in the hall. Rorschach stood, facing the cell gate. "Rorschach, I think you should go." she whispered, "hurry, before you get caught! We'll talk about this later, okay?" "Yeah alright," he agreed, "well, thanks for sharing your ideas Taliks… goodnight." Then he opened the gate and went back to his own cell. "Goodnight Rorschach." [b]And that concludes Chapter 4. Thanks for reading this lengthy chapter; Chapter 5 is quite a bit longer though. Link will be here----> https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/130096956 [/b]