The large stone door rumbled to a close behind them as the fireteam stepped into the next area of the Shadows. The vastness of the circular chamber they now found themselves in; was sublime. It had a large vaulted ceiling of spires and pillars that stretched upwards to heights that were lost to the eye. Rusted ruins that were left behind and untouched for centuries, enclosing the room and provided little hiding holes with bits of cover here and there spread throughout. Once the door came to a full close, all light was devoured and the high-powered LED flashlights on Bree and Brayden’s suits snapped on. The Vandals didn’t need them, lights in an area of darkness would only inhibit their vision. “Where the f*ck did you get that?” Bree faced her brother, who was now toting a large heavy machine gun. “If you must know, the Queen gave it to me. She said that we would need all the help we could get. And with Dredgen lurking around here somewhere, I was happy to take it,” Brayden said as he fed the chain belt into the behemoth of a gun. Bree merely shook her head as she made her way to yet another sync plate in the middle of the chamber. “Flower,” was all she had to say. The diagram of the room appeared and laid out exactly what they had to do for the last part. “Ok. We activate the center plate, we kill whatever shows up, then we do it again. Then after that, we do it again. Three times total, then we move on. We have lots of cover, so be sure to use it. Anyone needs help, call it out. Questions?” Bree asking if anyone had any questions was more rhetorical than anything. When the group remained silent, she slowly stepped onto the sync pad. It lit up white, then went dark. Immediately, the team split up. Bree ended up ducked behind a busted pillar with a Vandal, Brayden, was all the way across the room, utilizing cover against a large boulder. Bree barely had enough time to draw her weapons before the first Goblins appeared, but they weren’t alone. An army of Harpies accompanied them, then she heard the first shot from a Line rifle, signifying Hobgoblins. Bree, dual wielding her Fatebringers, starting shooting first. She rained down death blows on the Harpies who were closing in on her position. The unmistakable sound of Brayden’s scout rifle cracked off shortly thereafter, taking down a swarm of Harpies near his location. Most of the Vandals spread out and remained closer to the middle of the room, dealing with the Goblins. It didn’t take the elite team long to take down the first flood of Vex. The sync plate in the middle lit up white again, Brayden was the first one to make it there. He depressed the pad, it flickered and then went dark. More clouds flashed, as the next rush of enemies started appearing all around them. “Hobgoblins take priority! Kill them first!” Bree called out, as her hands worked the triggers of her guns. Harpie after Harpie, Goblin after Goblin. The constant bombardment of clouds filled the area to the point where one couldn’t move without running into something. Bree was still behind her pillar, but it was a Slap grenade that landed next to her that flushed her out from behind the shelter. The grenade exploded and sent shattered particles of rock and stone flying, Bree tumbled and rolled right out into the open middle. She was completely surrounded by Goblins and floating Harpies. One of her Fatebringers remained behind the cover she was forced from, but her other gun was gripped tightly and peeling off rounds like an auto rifle. Brayden popped up from his own cover, he traded his scout rifle for the heavy machine gun. He advanced the first bullet on the chain into the chamber and in a firing fury, unloaded a relentless hail of bullets. It tore through whatever Vex had Bree pinned down, it shredded through the Harpies, death poured out of the smoking barrel as quickly as the bullets did. Only a minute or two and the area was cleared once again. The sync pad lit up white. It took Bree a little bit to catch her breath, but she got up, refused to dust herself off and picked up her dropped hand cannon. Ammo synths were popped, guns were cocked, they were ready for the third and last time. Decisively, Brayden slammed his feet down on the sync pad. The Vandals formed up this time, taking a position more back and out of the center of the action, Bree moved back with the Vandals, but it was the headstrong Brayden who stayed in the middle of it all. The clouds vanished, but something felt different. The clamorous sounds of all of their combined firepower filled the room. Smoke billowed and curled, blocking out the beams of light from their flashlights. Brayden’s finger clamped down on the trigger as his muscles strained to keep the humungous heavy machine gun steady. The bullets sprayed, Vex corpses hit the ground and as everything seemed to be going the Guardians’ way, Bree heard the screech. “A Minotaur! Brayden! Fall back! Fall back to my position immediately!” Bree howled into her helmet comm, “Form up!” “Give me some covering fire! I’m moving up!” Brayden shouted back as he worked his way to cover where he was able to reload his weapon. “God f*cking damn it, Brayden! Stop trying to be the hero and get your ass back here. Now!” She screamed at him as she started to work her way up as well, trying to clear a path for him to get back. A supercharged solar bullet from a Line rifle slammed directly into Bree’s chest. The momentum of the round knocked her off her feet and she fell violently to the ground. A red light flashed on her HUD, an emergency beeping rang in her ear, “Critical damage taken to the main chest plate cavity, find cover ASAP” Flower spoke to Bree, but it had knocked the wind out of her and she couldn’t move. Bree gasped for air as the emergency life support system in her suit kicked in. Slowly, she got to her knees and stumbled and fell her way back to where the Vandals were formed up. One of the Vandals came out from its cover, scooped Bree up into his four arms and swiftly carried Bree back to the relative safety of the pillar they were taken refuge behind. “Bree? Are you there? Are you ok?” Bryaden’s voice broke in over her gasping for air, she sat up as she was starting to shake the cobwebs from her head. “Brayden...,” she coughed, “You need to get back here...I just got hit. You can’t do this by yourself.” “I can’t come back now! I almost have the Minotaur down, just a little bit more and I’ll have him. I’ll be back for you, Bree, I promise!” “Brayden, I am begging you! Please!” The thunderous roar of Brayden’s machine gun ended just as abruptly as it had started. Bree was finally back to her feet, leaning out from the rock she hid behind. An unsettling, eerie tranquility fell over the chamber. The only thing to be heard was the mechanical clinking and clanking of metal as the Vex made their advance towards Bree and the Vandal’s position. Then, Bree heard it again, the horrible, hellacious screech of the Minotaur and Bree felt her heart fall endlessly into the pit of her stomach. “...Brayden…?” [i]Trials of a Guardian: The Trial of Shadows (Chapter 6: Part III)[/i]: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/112243237 [i]Trials of a Guardian: All Chapters[/i]: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/105589170/0/0