Hello, everybody, here's part six of The Journey Home! I'm uploading this at my Dad's shop, as my internet at home is currently down - a huge windstorm hit my city the other day, and did a lot of damage. Thus, it might be up to a week before I can upload part seven. In any case, here's [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/223052543?showBanned=0&path=0] part five[/url] if you missed it, or, if you're looking for a different part, here's the[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/222615264?showBanned=0&path=0] table of contents![/url] Stay classy, Guardians! Alesha watched as they slowly emerged from the forest. After the fight with the Captain, the metal man had grabbed her hand, and started leading her away. One of the others had gone into the forest, and returned with Michael slung over his shoulder. Alesha had been so relieved to see her friend alive that she’d almost cried. She’d tried to run over to him, but the metal man had held firm. His other companion had grabbed the Captain, and then they’d begun marching towards the village. The six of them finally arrived at the village palisade. “Open the gate!” the metal man shouted. There was no response. The metal man sighed. “Bloody Wildlings,” he said. He let go of Alesha’s hand. “Wait here,” he said. He unclipped the hammer from his waist, and strode up to the main entrance. He swung at the wooden logs, and the main gate flew open. On the other side of it stood Oren and several of the village warriors, all of them with their guns drawn. Oren’s mouth hung agape, but he quickly regained his composure. “Put down your weapons!” he said. “How about you put down yours?” the metal man replied. Oren took aim with his rifle. “We’re not afraid to shoot!” he said. The metal man began walking towards Oren. “Don’t come any closer!” The metal man continued walking. Oren fired off several rounds, but the metal man simply seemed to absorb them. Soon, the two were only a foot apart. The metal man then grabbed the barrel of Oren’s gun, and bent it at a 45 degree angle. “I don’t even need a gun to kill you, mate,” he said. “I could kill you with noting more than my little finger.” He waved his pinky in front of Oren’s face, as if to prove his point, and leaned in. “Fortunately for you, I don’t work for free. Now tell your men to put down their weapons, and we can talk.” Oren looked around uneasily. “Lower your weapons!” he said at last. The other warriors uneasily obliged. The metal man nodded. “Good!” he said. Then, the metal man took off his head! Suddenly Alesha realized that he was just wearing a weird metal suit. Underneath his helmet was a mostly bald man, with a bit of brown hair ringing his scalp. “Now let’s talk business. You see -“ “Alesha!” Alesha turned and saw Uncle Tom rounding a corner, aunt Beatrice in tow. “Uncle Tom!” she shouted. She started to run towards him, but the metal man holding Michael blocked her way. “Ah, let the little wildlings go, Samar,” the metal man said. “A good faith gesture, eh?” Alesha ran up to Uncle Tom, and wrapped her arms tight around him. She almost immediately began crying into his shirt. “Found them out in the forest,” the metal man said. “They’d been attacked by this bugger and his crew.” Alesha turned towards the metal men, and watched as one of them threw the Captain to the ground. Growling, it attempted to rise, but the metal man pushed it into the mud with his boot. “Now,” he said, “I believe some introductions are in order.” The metal man stuck his hand out. “Name’s Simon. What’s yours?” Oren looked down at the hand nervously, but shook it. “Oren,” he said. “Pleasure to meet you, Oren,” Simon said. He let go of Oren’s hand. “Listen this bugger and his crew aren’t the only Fallen in the region, eh? They deserted from a larger force that’s passing through the area.” “Thanks for the warning,” Oren said. “Now if you’d please -“ “I ain’t talking about a couple of skiffs and a captain, mate,” Simon said. “Last I counted, we saw about two hundred Fallen passing through the area. They’ll be here in five days time.” Simon looked around the growing crowd, and saw the fear in their eyes. “And I don’t think your peashooters will do much against a force like that.” Oren stared up at Simon. “And what do you propose we do about it.” Simon looked down at Oren, and smiled. “Simple; you hire me.” “Hire you?” “Me and my mates here are Sunbreakers,” Simon said, nodding towards his companions. “For the right price, we’ll fight anything, or anyone.” “What in the Hell is a Sunbreaker?” Oren growled. “All you need to know is that we’ve killed a lot of Fallen,” came a new voice. A small, metal orb appeared next to Simon, and began floating through the air. “And that we’ll gladly kill some more - if you pay up.” Oren stared at the metal orb. “I want Glimmer,” Simon said. He held out his hand, and a blue cube - much like the one Gustav had handed Alesha the other day - appeared in it. “And a lot of it.” He closed his fist. Oren looked around nervously. “How do I know that you can do what you say?” he asked. “Thought you might ask that,” Simon replied. He nodded towards one of the other metal men, who still had the Captain draped over his shoulder. Without saying a word, the metal man threw the Captain to the ground, where he lay, groaning. Simon walked up to the Captain. “Get up, bugger,” he said. “On your knees.” The Captain slowly pushed himself off the ground, and stared up at Simon. A strange, purple substance leaked from his armor. Simon whistled. Still silent, one of the metal men threw a large handgun through the air. In one fluid motion, Simon caught the weapon, pointed it at the Captain, and pulled the trigger. The Captain fell back to the ground, a hole in the middle of his forehead. Simon turned back towards Oren. “Call that a free sample,” he said. “I’ll be back in three days; make sure you’ve made up your minds by then.” Then, he and the other metal men turned, and walked back out through the open gate. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/223323967/0/0]Part Seven[/url]