Ralis stumbled out of the hallway into one of the smaller rooms, nearly tripping on his way in. Flinging himself against the wall, he drew the shock dagger and attempted to hold still. The red marker grew closer. Closer. Something flung the door open and scurried in. He held his breath and slowly inched closer to the entrance, clutching the dagger tightly in both shaking hands. With the commotion outside from the patrols it was hard to guess how many were in the hallway. It sounded like there was only one of them and he prayed it was so. He had to be silent and quick. The scavenger was just outside the door when he sprang into action. With the dagger now activated, Ralis rounded the corner and didn't almost trip. This time he did. His foot caught and uneven floorboard and he fell straight into the surprised creature. They both toppled to the floor with him atop the Fallen. It was one of the smaller, two armed ones. Ralis postured up, expecting the creature to raise alarm and struggle, but instead discovered the dagger embedded in scavenger’s torso, arc current flowing through its body as it shuddered violently. It only made soft gurgling noises but he quickly covered what seemed to be its mouth with one hand and desperately stabbed with the other till its death was certain. Sweating and breathing as hard as he was, Ralis felt much calmer than the previous encounter yesterday. He deactivated the shock dagger and returned it to his belt before grasping the corpse that was leaking that strange white gas. Bishop spoke as he began to drag the body awkwardly into the small room. "This one was just a Dreg. There won’t be a huge alarm if its missing for a time. Unless they find its body. Will you do the honors?" The sudden feel of pulsating warmth returned and Ralis extended his arm to call forth the Ghost. It floated to the corpse and after a brief scan highlighted certain items on the corpse’s person. “More arc cores,” Bishop stated. “Not much of anything else worth taking.” He pocketed the cores in a hardened pouch that was fixed to his belt. “How many shots now?” “Enough.” His Ghost returned back inside the suits system and slowly he approached the now open back door. Outside was a loud hum of activity as Fallen called out to each other, trying to be heard over the drop-ships patrolling above. He kept low and went to his stomach, crawling slowly by a series of ruined cars, from which patches of grass sprouted. His eyes were glued to the tracker to see where the patrols went. “These Skiff’s must have a place to refuel nearby if they don’t dock with a Ketch. If they do, it’s going to make getting a hold of one much more difficult.” Bishop said as he crawled. Once his cover from the cars ended, Ralis rose to a crouch and peeked around. Some Fallen had scurried up to the rooftops across the street and searched from there. Others still peeked into the windows along the buildings, looking for something that had them quite on alert. “If we can get safely away, maybe we could watch what direction they fly off and track them?” He asked. “More than likely not. It’ll be hard to follow them with this many Fallen around. Until you learn how to use your Light, we can’t be aggressive.” Ralis nodded and waited for his chance to move. When the Fallen weren’t looking he tried his best to hobble out of cover and moved towards the next building as quickly as he could muster without falling over. A window on the side to the structure was missing so he leapt through, his loud landing muffled in all the commotion of the search. He looked at the tracker and sighed thankfully when there wasn’t any red near him. It was clear for now. The street on the opposite side seemed empty at the moment so he darted across into an alleyway. “You’re walking much better.” Bishop noted. “Yes,” Ralis agreed, “It’s just not fast enough. I still can’t run.” “Soon, you’ll do more than that.” Motion appeared on the tracker. Finding another window, he slid on through to a house that looked like it could collapse any moment. Carefully he moved through the structure as he attempted to get his barring on the Fallen. There was backdoor that led to another part of the alleyway, overgrown with grass and covered in debris. Clear. Ralis darted into another building with alerts on the tracker getting closer. It was difficult to tell, but he guessed the readings were indicating movement from above. He didn’t have time to look or listen so he pressed on. He rounded the corner and encountered a Vandal in the other room. The scavenger had its back to him, examining something closely in a hand. His heart thudded violently at the surprise. Inhaling sharply, Ralis advanced slowly on the unaware Fallen and drew the shock dagger. It must have heard him because it began to speak something he couldn’t understand and froze in alarm. Rather than turn around it waved one arm over its head in a gesture, beckoning him forward. [i]It thinks I’m a Fallen.[/i] With this realization he moved forward again at a relaxed pace, gripping the dagger in both hands tightly. It must have heard him and assumed the soft stepping meant a friendly. The creature began to say something again and turned, still examining what looked like a glass figurine. It looked up and stop itself mid-sentence, noticing him now right in front of it. Ralis drove the dagger up into the Vandals throat and activated the arc current, causing it to spasm and lose control of its body much like the Dreg had. The figurine dropped to the floor and shattered as he killed the Fallen solider, lowering it to the ground. He sheathed the dagger again, hands not quite as shaky, this one yet easier than the other. He found more cores and a shock sabre on this one. As he examined the weapon it brought a flash of the Captain charging him, the traitor cutting the former's throat. Ralis reluctantly added it to his belt and glanced at the Vandal. Its helmet pattern was a series of angled lines across the head, not the one that had killed him. [i]That one may already be dead.[/i] The motion tracker was still red, but he determined that those Fallen were on the roof. With a deep breath the titan was on the move again. Making his way down the street resulted in him killing two more Fallen, their cries silenced as the arc current in the blade rendered their bodies immobile. When the second one fell to ground before him something strange surged inside him. It felt similar to Bishop being summoned from the armor but centered more on himself. He felt it everywhere, flowing through him. “What’s happening?” “Your Light, it is growing stronger.” Bishoped answered. “How do I use it?” A Fallen skiff rose up into view as it floated over the roof of the buildings on the opposite side of the street. It was a dark brown color with patterns of red line across its body. Its shape reminded him of a fish almost with the small tail end emerging from the large front that was like the head. The front of ship glowed a soft red from its inner mechanisms that linked to the pair of circular jet like engines at the bottom. Along the bottom end of the tail were a series of holes and curved metal rods, above the bottom end were a series of red banners whipping in the wind. Multiple pieces of the ship were connected by a series of wires that possibly helped support or steer the craft. As the skiff started to pass over the street, it slowed and then began to change course. Soon it was looking right in his direction. “Instinct, it’s different for everyone! I can’t explain now!” Bishop sputtered as a section in the front of the ship folded down out of the red, revealing cannons attached that rotated to face him. Ralis felt the Light burn intensely inside him, begging to be released. The feeling was drowned out from fear of the looming ship about to end him. He tried to move but there was a heavy thud followed by a loud ringing noise that took him off his feet onto the ground. A few seconds later his vision returned but the loud ringing blocked out any other sound. The bar that indicated his shield had dropped very low but still held. Slowly his blurry vision formed the shape of the skiff looming above his prone body, cannons glowing for another shot. Bishop was yelling something that was inaudible yet it went unnoticed. All that mattered now was the newfound Light that had filled him. Rallis laboriously lifted and arm upwards and called forth the Light into existence. It filled his hand in its own blue Light and he felt its weight. It grew bright and volatile. Somehow the titan knew what to do. He threw it with all his might toward the skiff. The blue orb bounced off the front of the ship and shortly after exploded in a bright flash. The skiff wobbled as arc currents coursed outside its hull before suddenly angling downward and rotating around. In the narrow streets as it was, the craft crashed into the lining buildings, driving its front end into a wall and whipping the tail end across the other building, shattering windows and throwing dust and debris into the air. He had no time to react as the craft headed right towards him. Suddenly, there was nothing but darkness, a thoughtless void. Then he was back, hands above his head waiting for the skiff to fall. Instead of screaming he gasped for air and writhed at the sudden burst of feeling. There wasn’t a ship about to crush him. It was below his feet, broken into three large pieces and aflame. “What did I just do?” he wheezed. “You used your Light, I think you detonated it.” He rolled onto his stomach as he struggled to rise, “What happened to me?” “The skiff didn’t completely crush you…but it had been enough.” Bishop awkwardly explained. “Didn’t take long though with the ship there, less than a minute maybe to rebuild you and the armor. We need to move, Ral. They heard that.” (([b]Next Part:[/b] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/196111637/0/0 ))