[b]Danger's My Middle Name[/b] The metal panels were rusted and peeling, flaking off like years old paint on the side of a house from the ancient days of humanity's past. The corridors and rooms are empty of life, screens flicker on and off displaying images of Eliksni glyphs. Foliage invades the shattered windows and drapes over computer consoles and rails. Streaks of sunlight shine through the breaches in ship's hull. This is what remains of the Fallen Ketch Pobiksis-Syn. The metal halls echo with the scratching and whining sounds of the ships infrastructure struggling to stay firmly seated on the edges of the sheer cliffs in the Cinders on Venus Suddenly the air cracks with the sound of CX22-Carrier Jumpship breaking through the atmosphere. The large ship hovers over the Ketch and a Guardian is teleported to the surface. "Look, I know it's dangerous, Malakor but you gotta trust me, this is worth it." The Guardian says over a private communications channel, probably talking to someone on the large Jumpship. "Yea, yea over and out." The Guardian replies. The Guardians robes are ragged and torn, from years of abuse, they must've seen many battles and adventures. They have the appearance of the Manifold Seeker style armor, but with several enhancements that appear to be Fallen made. In the holster on the Guardians right side is a gold plated sidearm with a RLS3 scope attached to it. The clip is also awkward in appearance and size, it appears to allow the side arm to fire in bursts, like a pulse rifle. This is the exotic sidearm The Middle Man, a weapon designed by the Hakke manufacturer and has a solar burn applied to it. This sidearm can be drawn unbelievably fast and it's rumored that kills with it increases ones agility. Strapped to his back is another odd weapon, it looks to be a modified version of a Suros brand weapon. It also appears to have Fallen enhancements applied to it. This void pulse rifle has Fallen scorch technology applied to the barrel allowing it to have the combined effects of explosives rounds and firefly. This is Suros Judgment, a weapon of interesting design and is certainly not discovered naturally but is a weapon crafted with ones two hands, or perhaps four hands. The Guardian opens up his satchel and pulls out a rope and grapple hook. Latched onto his belt are several hook like devices, used for scaling mountains or in this case cliffs. The Guardian approaches a nearby tree and releases his Ghost. "This tree appears to predate even my existence, planted here during the Golden Age but since has been killed by the sulfuric air. By the way, what do you intend to do Shay?" The ghost questions inquisitively. "Well I intend to use it as my counter weight of course." Shay replies, "Do you think it'll be able to support that?" "Judging by the loose earth, the density of the roots, and the dryness of the air I wouldn't recommend it." "Just what I like to hear." Shay replies sarcastically. He wraps the rope around the base of the tree and tugs on it to check it's tightness and then latches the one end of the rope to the other. He takes the remaining rope and feeds it through one of the hooks on his belt. "Desperate times right?" he asks rhetorically, mostly to himself. Shay backs up to the cliff edge and glances down to the Ketch below. He lets out a sigh, and starts to rappel down the cliff side. [i]'Man I do the craziest things.'[/i] He thinks to himself, as his Ghost glides past him and into the Fallen Ketch. Shay reaches for a natural hand hold and stops rappelling for a moment. He retrieves a nail and a hook from his belt and removes a small hammer like tool from left leg pocket. He hammers the hook into the cliff wall and feeds his rope through it. Small pieces of sand and gravel drift past him and Shay feels an odd amount of slack in his rope. He look back up at the tree that's acting as his counter weight. It's leaning slightly over the cliff edge and its roots are starting to protrude through the loose sandy like soil above. [i]'Oh man, I've gotta get a move on.'[/i] In Shay's mad rush to keep moving he accidentally drops his hammer into the volcanic abyss below. He curses under his breath and just then the tree shifts and Shay plummets down to the Ketch below. The rope quickly tightens and recoils from the weight. Shay's body feels like it's quickly pulled in two directions and the slammed back together like a rubber band being snapped. His body aches and becomes stiff from the pain, his limbs go numb and hang at his sides. He has reached the end of his rope and his body dangles just inches from the Ketch. The breeze relaxingly swings him back and forth, his mind wanders as it searches for an answer to what just happened. His eyes open, and he stares up into the lightning filled yellow skies of Venus. He grabs onto the rope still clipped to his belt and pulls himself up. Looking down he sees the Ketch just below. He unclips himself from the rope and lands on the side of the rusted ship. It creaks and scratches under his weight. An uneasy feeling fills his body as he stands perfectly still. From his feet and up to the hair on his head he can feel the entire ship shift underneath him. His Ghost peers out through a small rusted hole in the side. "Are you alright Shay?" It asks. Shay forcefully laughs in a joking tone. "Yea, just taking it slow and easy." Slowly he crosses the outside of the ship and enters through a large charred hole in it's side. His movements are slow and steady, no need to rush and fall the rest of the way down the cliff in a giant metal death trap. "Ghost, are you picking up any signs of light?" Shay asks as he crosses into the Kell's throne room. Vines cover the floors and crates left behind by the Fallen. The control consoles are empty and dark, power seems to be lacking in this area. Shay's Ghost flies off to resolve this issue almost instinctively. Shay walks past the tall monitors and clears the lenses of moss like substance that's started to grow over them. Several lifeless Dreg bodies litter the floor, they must've gone down with the ship, brutal. A small fire stays lit in one of the corners, Shay can't help but wonder how long it's been lit for. "I'm not picking up any signs of the light, or the darkness. I've got a bad feeling about this." "Hey, Malakor you reading me?" Shay says into his private comms channel. In Fallen language something responds back over the comms. "Where would I find the cargo logs?" Once again something replies back in Fallen language. "Of course I'm in the throne room, but which monitor do I use? Wait, hold on, hey where are we at on getting power back on in this room?!" Shay yells in the direction of his Ghost. "It should only take me about three more minutes." "Alright, let's make this snappy we don't want to draw too much attention to us. The longer we're here the easier it is for the House of Winter to find us." Shay now turns his attention back to Malakor, "Ok, so what Eliksni glyph combination am I looking for?" As Malakor responds the lights flash on and slowly build up in brightness. The wall monitors flash blue and Eliksni glyphs fill the screens. "Yeah, I know which one you're talking about I'll get back in touch with you once we've got the artifact." Shay quickly scans the room and spots the monitor he needs to use on the opposite wall. He vaults over a console of switches and buttons, the ship shakes and trembles slightly. "Shay, no sudden movements." His Ghost says as it glides in his direction. "Did you forget we're in a Ketch that's barely hanging on to the edge of a cliff?" "Honestly, kinda." Shay replies as he slowly moves across the room to the monitor he needs to use. He presses a series of buttons on the right side and screen fills up with thousands of glyphs. "Here's the latest list of the cargo. Aaaaaaaand." Shay says as he skims his finger down the list. "Here! By the Traveler's Light, here it is!" "Congratulations Shay, shall we go claim our prize?" "Yea, yea. Ok we'll find it in the lower deck." The floor creaks and snaps, Shay is thrown to the ground and his Ghost is pinned under a sheet of metal. The entire room shifts to one side, bodies, crates, computers, wires and metal are thrown across the room. One end of the Ketch slips off the cliff and balances unevenly and teeters. Everything starts sliding back the other direction and an adrenaline rush pours over Shay. He quickly frees his Ghost and they make a run for the opposite end of the Ketch. The large ship buckles and the room starts to split in half. Shay starts to run faster than he has ever run before, it was like running up an escalator that was moving downwards. He wasn't sure he was going to make it, as he felt like he wasn't gaining any ground. As the floor starts to disappear beneath him he makes a leap of faith with an out stretched arm and is able to grab onto several vines that hang from the other half of the Ketch. Shay lets out a couple of laughs, his way of expressing stress and disbelief. "Well, looks like we're not going back that way." "Is this really the time for jokes?" His Ghost replies. "I suppose not." Shay responds as he starts pulling himself up onto the remaining half of the Ketch. "Man, we....we were almost in that." Shay rests his hands on his knees and catches his breath. "That's bound to have drawn the attention of the House of Winter, we should get moving Shay." "Agreed."