Hello, everybody, you probably know me best from Into the Hellmouth, (and if you haven't read it here's [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/186963421?page=0&sort=0&showBanned=0&path=0]Part 1[/url], but I decided to write another little short fanfic. So, here it is! Enjoy! Alex looked at the settlement through the lens of his sniper rifle. There were no more than twenty buildings - thrown together out of old walls, vehicles and logs. It’s no wonder we also didn’t see it, he thought. The settlement had been detected by a scouting drone, only a few days prior. The Vanguard estimated that there were thirty people there - maybe more, maybe less. He looked up from the sniper. “That’s it, alright,” he said. Cobra-4 nodded. “Told ya’,” he said. “When am I ever wrong?” “I don’t know,” Nicholi said, “maybe the last four wild goose chases you lead us on?” Cobra looked over at him. “Hey now,” he said, “You try spotting a village like that in all this mess! It’s -“ “Can it, you two!” Alex shouted. The warlock and titan looked over at him. He sighed. “Let’s just save these people,” he said. “You two can finish later.” He tugged his hood snugly over his helmet. Nicholi sighed. “Fine,” he said, “we’ve found the village. That’s all that really matters.” Cobra nodded. “Let’s get them back to the City,” he said. And with that, the three Guardians summoned their sparrows, and sped off towards the settlement. The town had been built on a cliffside, with shallow hill leading to the flat, snow-covered top. Alex had talked to many refugees, and this was a common dream among them - a village on a hill, nestled far away from any Fallen territory. It was a simple dream - but a beautiful one, in it’s own way. The Guardians dismounted their sparrows at the base of the hill, and began to climb. Then, Alex noticed something. “Get down!” he said. He dragged his companions behind a nearby boulder. “What is it?” Cobra asked. Alex pointed up the hill at a dark silhouette. “They’ve got a lookout,” he said, “looks like he’s got a rifle of some kind.” Nicholi nodded. “Better we meet them before they meet us,” he said. “We’re here to save these people, not get into a firefight with them.” Alex nodded. “I’ll sneak around, and take him from behind,” he said, “we’ll drag him back here, and when he calms down, we’ll get him to tell his friends to come with us.” Cobra nodded. “Sounds good to me,” he said. Alex kneeled down, and activated his cloaking. He ran up the hill as fast as he could before the cloaking tech overheated and shut down. He wound up about ten yards behind the village sentinel. He quietly approached the man, until he was only inches away. Then, he put hand over the man’s face, and pulled him close to his chest. “Listen,” he said, “I’m here to help you!” The remainder of the man’s body hung limp at Alex’s feet. With a shock, Alex let the man go, and he crumpled to the ground, dead. He blinked. “Ghost?” he said. “Tell Nicholi and Cobra-4 to get up here. Now.” “As you wish,” his ghost said. Alex’s companions arrived at his side in mere moments. “What happened?” Cobra asked. Alex shook his head. “He was dead when I got here,” he said. “How?” Nicholi asked. Alex looked the corpse over. The man’s blue eyes were still clear, and his beard hadn’t yet frosted over. He hadn’t been dead for more than a few hours. Then, he noticed the man’s throat - it had been slashed open, and the wound had then been instantly cauterized. “Shock daggers,” he said, “Fallen.” Nicholi nodded. “Steal vandals, probably,” he said. “He never would’ve seen it coming.” Alex was still staring at the wound, when he realized something. The flesh was still smoking. The man had only been killed minutes ago. Alex looked up at the village. “We have to go!” he said. He began running up the hill. “What is it!” Cobra shouted. “That body’s still fresh!” he shouted, not even bothering to look back. “We might still have time!” Alex arrived at the top of the hill, his heart pounding in his chest. He moved between the village huts, looking everywhere for the Fallen. Then, he saw another man round the corner. He was holding an old weapon - pre-golden age, it looked like. He turned, and his eyes went wild when he saw Alex. The man shouted something in Russian, and pointed the gun at him. Alex raised his hands. “I’m here to help!” he shouted. “There’s Fallen here! Fallen!” The man appeared not to understand, and continued waving the gun at him. Alex cursed. “There’s Fallen!” he shouted “I’m here to help you! Let me -“ The man dropped the rifle as his eyes widened with surprise. He looked down at the glistening dagger that had penetrated his chest. “No!” Alex shouted. The man’s body dropped to the ground as the dagger was pulled from his chest. The Vandal’s stealth cloaking deactivated, and it looked up at Alex, and shouted. Not even bothering to take aim, Alex pointed his auto riffle at the creature, and squeezed the trigger. The Vandal fell, ether leaking from his armor. Alex burst into the nearest building, and saw a vandal going through nearby box. Two twisted corpses - one male, on female - lay on a straw bed. The vandal looked up just in time to see the barrel of Alex’s gun glow as he began to fire. The Hunter ran from house to house, looking for survivors. But all he ever found was Fallen and corpses. Eventually, he rounded a corner, and nearly bumped into a villager. She had tangled black hair, and forest green eyes. She gasped when she saw him. “I’m here to help!” Alex shouted. “There’s Fallen -“ The woman started to run, but he grabbed her by the shoulder, and pulled her into his chest. She screamed and struggled, but his iron grip held firm. Alex calmly brought his rifle to bear, and unleashed a stream of bullets on the space in front of them. The vandal that had been approaching dropped to the ground, dead. The woman’s screaming stopped, and Alex let her go. She turned to face him, agape. And then, she ran. “Hey!” Alex shouted. He ran after her, and watched as she ran into one of the huts. He ran in after her, and saw that she was grabbing something out of a basket - a small bundle, wrapped in cloth. But when she saw him, she froze Alex walked up to her, and looked down at the bundle, and saw a pink, tiny face poking out of it. He looked up at the woman. She met his gaze, and smiled. Then, there was a large crash behind them. He turned, and saw a Captain burst through a nearby wall, shrapnel launcher in hand. But before it could do anything, Alex grabbed it’s upper two arms, and began to wrestle with it. The Captain tried to aim it’ shrapnel launcher at him, but Alex knocked it aside. The launcher went off nonetheless. Using one of it’s free hands, the Captain grabbed a shock dagger from it’s belt. It stabbed at Alex’s head, and the hunter only barely dodged it in time. Alex twisted the Captain’s wrist, hearing a satisfying snap as the bones cracked. While Captain cursed in angry Fallen, and Alex grabbed the knife from his belt, and buried it in the Captain’s rightmost eye. The Captain twitched as Alex removed the dagger from it’s brain, and then fell to the ground, dead. Alex breathed a sigh of relief. He turned around to face the woman. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s -“ The woman collapsed to the floor. Alex ran up to her, and held up her head. He looked down, and saw a splotch of red on her abdomen. He swore. She must’ve gotten hit by the shrapnel launcher. The baby had started bawling, and wouldn’t stop. He looked the woman in the eyes. She was trembling, her face contorted with fear. With what must’ve been an extraordinary amount of effort, she raised the baby in the air. She nodded at Alex, mumbling something in Old Russian. Alex laid down her head, and gingerly took the bundle from her arms. He looked down at the pink little face within it. The face looked up at him, and the crying stopped. Alex swallowed the lump in his throat. He looked up at the woman, and nodded. The woman’s eyes sparkled, and she smiled, despite the obvious pain. Then, she closed her eyes, and let out a breath. And then she breathed no more. Alex heard Nicholi and Cobra enter the hut behind him. They looked down at him in silence. Nicholi put a hand on Alex’s shoulder, but Alex shrugged him off, and continued looking down at the baby. * * * Once they were sure all of the Fallen were dead, the Guardians dug a pit, and began throwing the dead villagers into it. All twenty-seven of them. Cobra shook his head. “If only we’d gotten here a little sooner,” he muttered. Nicholi grunted. “Nothing we can do about it now,” he said. He shook his head. “We failed.” Alex looked down at the woman. She looked almost peaceful now. Then, he looked down at the baby, who was sleeping at the edge of the pit. “No,” he said. “We didn’t.” His companions turned towards him. “A lot of people died today,” said Alex. “But one of these villagers is alive - and they would be dead if it wasn’t for us.” He looked down at the pit. At the almost two dozen dead men and women. And he thought of all the bodies he’d seen. The thousands of unnamed, faceless dead. “We may mourn for the dead,” he said. “But we fight for the living. For every person we save is a victory over the Darkness. Another mote of light that will not be extinguished. And with that, he grabbed a shovel, and began to bury the bodies, watching the woman until her features had at last been obscured by the cold earth. And when the last of the dirt had been shoveled over the bodies, the Guardians gathered around their victory, and waited for the Dropship to come and take them home.