[i]For those who just joined us, a link to Part 1: [/i] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/226018693?sort=0&page=0 ODDISH: "What are those schmucks doing?" RENFREW: "Trying to climb up the rock face." ODDISH: "Why?" RENFREW: "You know, I'm not sure. But everybody's doing it." MARSHALL: "That looks like fun! Teacher, can I..." ODDISH: "Don't even think about it, boy. Just because a bunch of adult Guardians are being numbskulls doesn't mean you get to." Oddish sees Shiro-4 standing nearby and makes his way over to him. SHIRO: "Ah, the famous Oddish. You were quite a legend back in the day." ODDISH: "I think a lot of it got inflated." SHIRO: "Don't be modest. 76,000 confirmed kills is an impressive accomplishment." ODDISH: "A lot of them were thralls. Use a Dark-Drinker right, and you can take out eight or ten of them in one swipe. Got fifteen of 'em once." A falling Hunter lands between them, exploding like a rotten tomato as he hits a rocky ledge. Oddish idly flicks a clot of gore spatter from his armor. SHIRO: "Quite the weather we're having." ODDISH: "Yeah... I know the song 'It's Raining Men', but this is ridiculous. What in the traveler's name is going on?" SHIRO: "There's a dormant SIVA cluster up at the top of the peak. People are trying to get to it." ODDISH: "And... why exactly would they do such a thing?" SHIRO: "Well, no reason, really. Bragging rights. Thinking of trying it?" ODDISH: "Random stupidity isn't really my style." SHIRO: "I think someone else would disagree with you." He points at Marshall, who is busily trying to scramble up the rock face. He's not getting very far. ODDISH: "Marshall, what are you doing?" MARSHALL: "I want to climb the mountain, like the other Guardians are doing." Oddish watches the boy's concerted efforts. He's not getting very high. Then, he slips and falls, hitting hard enough to bruise his skinny backside. Not a problem with light-assisted healing. Oddish sighs, but decides it's harmless enough. ODDISH: "Fine, do your best." Marshall runs off. He starts the climb again, and falls. He gets a little higher a third time, before hitting the ground with a breath-expelling flop. He sits sniffling for awhile, then returns to the mountain. SHIRO: "Surprised you let him keep at it, given that you're Mr. Safety-conscious." ODDISH: "I give him half an hour and a few dozen bruises before he faces reality. And even if somehow he gets high enough to actually hurt himself, his Ghost can put him back together." SHIRO: "They never change, do they? Always wanting to do what the big kids are doing." ODDISH: "Tell me about it." SIGMUND: "I could tell you better than anyone. The Ticktock Inquisitor has left orbit with Gloria onboard. Destination: Venus." ODDISH: "What?! Recall it! Now! What the hell is that brat thinking?!" SHIRO: "Let me check the schedule... yup. Iron Banner match at Asylum in four minutes. And yes, Gloria Rem is listed as a participant." SIGMUND: "No joy with the Ticktock. Gloria's bypassed the auto-recall, and her encryption protocols are better than anything I could hack. Albus just told me to tell you... ah..." ODDISH: "Just say it, Sigmund." SIGMUND: "OK... he says 'nice try, fanny-face'." Muttering an impressive sequence of potty words under his breath, Oddish hurries to Lady Efrideet's post, almost tripping over a flurry of Sparklepony lightmail, blond pigtails, and shaggy gray fur: Petra and Growler having a wrestling match. LADY EFRIDEET: "Hello there. Here to participate in the Iron Banner?" ODDISH: "Did you just let one of my kids into an Iron Banner match?!" EFRIDEET: "Yes. Normally you have to be maximum level, but another participant let her join his fireteam." ODDISH: "She's a primary kinderguardian! Her light level's in the double digits! And she's never been in the crucible in her life!" EFRIDEET: "Well, there's a first time for everything." ODDISH (in her face): "You idiot! She'll get turned into kinderguardian puree in there!" EFRIDEET: "Just calm down, sir. Remember, your weapons and abilities are disabled here, but the wolves' teeth still work." (she indicates a wolf) "I'd hate to have to tell Gnasher there to bite you in the groin." ODDISH: "You know, that's the second time in an hour that someone has threatened my naughty parts. I'm really getting tired of it." EFRIDEET: "Match telemetry's coming through now. You can watch on the monitor." She indicates a large monitor. Several dozen Guardians, and a few wolves, are gathered around. A frame is serving beer and various bar foods. Oddish grabs a cold one: he's not going to want to be sober for this. Two teams of Guardians materialize in the Asylum battleground, one of them smaller than the rest. They charge toward each other, guns blazing. Gloria still has the little TSP pulse rifle Oddish issued her at the start of the field trip, and she blasts away with it, but the bullets do little damage. At some point, she finds herself close to a burly Titan and whacks him with a shove-melee. And again. And again. After three times, the Titan finally realizes someone's actually hitting him. TITAN: "You've GOT to be kidding me." Whack! Whack! Gloria melees him two more times, then the Titan shakes his head and sticks a fusion grenade to her visor. The fiery explosion sends her cartwheeling across the map. General laughter from the spectators. Respawning, Gloria goes up against a Hunter, empties her pulse rifle into him. Only moderate damage, and the hunter responds with a throwing knife that punches through her visor and scrambles her gray matter. She respawns. Goes up against a Titan. Blasts him. Scatter grenades him. he just keeps coming, then knocks her high in the air with a shoulder charge. Her smoking corpse lands sizzlingly in a mud puddle. Oddish shakes his head and drains half his beer in one go. This is even worse than he expected. The fight kind of goes on from there, just variations on a theme. Gloria claims a few assists, but is shot, punched, stabbed, blasted, or just plain obliterated before she can really do anything. Late in the match, she comes up on two enemy Guardians together, and she drops a Nova Bomb on them. One of them is right at the bomb's flashpoint, and despite the light level difference, it's enough to kill him. The other survives with a sliver of health. He stands there staring in disbelief that he somehow survived a near-direct hit from a Nova Bomb. Gloria stands staring in disbelief that something she did actually killed an enemy. Several seconds pass. They recover at the same time and both go for their guns. They shoot more or less simultaneously. Both die. Match almost over now. Gloria goes up against the Titan she first engaged. Shoots her gun empty, little effect. She begins meleeing him. Whack! Whack! TITAN: "You don't learn, do you?" He sticks another grenade to her faceplate. GLORIA: "Sure I do." She grabs the Titan around the leg and clings onto him like a leech. The Titan tries to shake her loose without success, has time for one shouted swearword, then the explosion claims them both. The crowd around the monitor erupts in cheers. And then, the match is over. Despite her own less than stellar score, Gloria's team won by a good 1500 points, with her last kill scoring the nail in the coffin. A few minutes later, the match participants transmat down to the Iron Banner kiosk to pick up the usual secection of motes, strange coins, engrams, weapons, armor pieces, or artifacts. Gloria materializes among them. She sees her teacher standing there, and knows from the look on his face that she's got some explaining to do. Head down, she approaches him. ODDISH: "Aren't you forgetting something?" (Gloria looks confused) "Your reward. Go see Lady Efrideet." Gloria does as instructed. Lady Efrideet opens a chest and hands her an Iron Banner-issue pulse rifle. EFRIDEET: "There you go, sweetie." (ruffles Gloria's hair) "Well done." GLORIA: "Isn't this...?" ODDISH: "It certainly is. A Clever Dragon. One of the most sought-after weapons in existence." GLORIA: "But... why am I getting it? I got my butt kicked in there." ODDISH: "You don't know much about the Iron Banner, do you? The people who get their butt kicked always get the best rewards, and the people who win get motes of light and blue engrams. You know my Colovance, the gun that's been my go-to primary for over two centuries? I got it after a match in which I finished dead last." GLORIA: "Oh... cool... but I guess I'm still in trouble, aren't I?" ODDISH (points at a quiet corner of the temple complex): "There's your time-out spot. Occupy it." GLORIA: "Yes, teacher." (goes over and sits down) ODDISH: "And by the way... nice job with that Titan." He leaves Gloria to her punishment, then heads out into the main complex. Shiro's still at his post, and Tyra Karn has joined him for some fresh air. Petra's still happily playing with Growler and the other wolves. Marshall's nowhere to be seen. Oddish hurries over to Shiro and Tyra. SHIRO: "Is your kinderguardian OK?" ODDISH: "She survived. Have you seen Marshall lately?" Part 4 up: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/227079527?sort=0&page=0